Jailbreak
by Pakmai
Summary: Lucifer returns from Hell a year after he left to keep the demons contained. He ensures his path crosses the Detective's, but will the sparks turn into flames or be extinguished completely? Chloe doesn't want to lose Lucifer again, but has no idea how to keep him on Earth. But if anyone can find a way, it's the stubborn Detective. Deckerstar. Post-Season 4 finale.
1. Chapter 1

**This story was inspired by an idea Seriana Ritani had, which she kindly allowed me the use of! Thank you so much for that. For now, I do plan on continuing this story, I just don't have a time frame for it since I'm more focused on my other fic, this idea just would not leave me alone and demanded to be written. I hope to finish Burn it Down before I continue this, but we'll see where my brain leads me. Let me know what you think, and if it's worth me continuing this!**

**Set after the Season 4 finale.**

**Reviews/Comments appreciated (and encouraged)!**

**DISCLAIMER: Not my characters, they belong to DC/Fox/Netflix, etc. I'm just playing around with the wonderful characters provided.**

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It's been nearly a year since Lucifer went back to Hell, and Chloe had to make excuses to the precinct about him going back home to deal with some responsibilities there. It's the closest she can get to the truth without outright lying, deciding that she should emulate Lucifer when it comes to that. She's tried to move on the best she can, but confessing her love for Lucifer is hard enough. And she'd gotten used to working with him for four years. The sudden loss of his presence isn't only felt by her, but all throughout the precinct. They almost go into a small period of mourning. Chloe has to hide her true feelings, but after she, Dan, Linda an Maze cleaned up the Penthouse and put everything back where it's supposed to be, she's gone over there at least once a week. Sometimes just to hope that he's come back, sometimes if Trixie is with Dan, she puts on one of his shirts and curls up on his bed where it still smells like him and sometimes has a bit of a cry.

But this is LA, which means murders never really stop. She refuses to take another partner yet, knowing that soon her Lieutenant is probably going to force one on her, but she wants to put it off as long as possible because if she gets another partner, then that means Lucifer really isn't coming back, for good.

She sighs a little as she arrives at another crime scene, and smiles a little at the people standing around. "Hey, Ella." She says to the forensic scientist, who took Lucifer taking off pretty hard since she and Dan are the ones that don't understand the reality of Lucifer, even if Chloe tried to impart how urgent it was that he return home and that no, there are no phones there.

"Hey, Chloe." Ella glances up at Chloe for a minute, before she crouches down by the body that is in the middle of the low-end motel room. "Lila Stephens. 34. Multiple stab wounds. No extra bruising, so it doesn't seem to have been angry stabbing. Which is a little weirder actually. Signs of struggle, and from the contusions on her wrists, she was bound at some point." She explains as she points to the bruises on the wrists.

Chloe makes a few notes on her pad and she nods a little. "Looks like she was tortured?" She guess as she sees the other bruises and small cuts here and there along the victim's body, some of them slicing through clothes. "Must have been a pretty sharp blade to get through clothes AND skin like that." She says as she tilts her head a little.

An eerie silence falls over the entire crime scene then, which makes Chloe look around at the forensics team and Uni's who are all staring behind her, trying to figure out if anything she said was really that weird. But a moment later she freezes as well, barely able to breathe.

A familiar, deep, British voice comes from behind her, "Hello, Detective, Ms. Lopez." Lucifer walks in like he's never been gone, looking the same as when he left with the exception of a different suit. He comes to a stop beside Chloe, tilting his head as he looks down at the victim. "Poor darling. She stab wounds actually spell out something if you follow the angle of the blades, but I can't quite make it out with the clothes. I'm sure they'll catch it in the autopsy." He says as he motions to the woman's torso. Noticing that everyone is staring at him, he looks over at Chloe ever-so-innocently. "You look lovely this morning, Detective. Should I have called ahead? I thought I'd just pop 'round and surprise you."

"Lucifer-" Chloe starts, reaching one hand out toward him tentatively before he's attacked by a tiny forensic scientist. Ella wraps her arms around Lucifer's chest, giving him a tight hug. "Aw, man, so good to have you back, Lucifer, did you settle your family stuff, then? Are you back for good?" She asks as she steps back away from him again.

Everyone else seems to have gone back to work, but they are clearly keeping an ear out for the conversation. Lucifer awkwardly pats Ella as he's hugged. "I've missed you too, Ms. Lopez." He says with a bit of amusement, but genuine sincerity in his tone. "I... am not sure if I'm back for good." He says slowly as he gives Chloe a cautious glance. "Detective, I see you have questions. Perhaps we should step outside and let the others get back to work?" He offers as he tugs on his cuffs a little in a slightly nervous gesture.

"Yeah. I think that's a good idea." Chloe says in a firm tone, sounding on the edge of anger as she grabs Lucifer's arm and brings him outside, then she puts both her hands on his arms, sort of patting his chest and stomach for a moment. "You're here." She says before pulling her hands back, looking into his eyes. "You're really here. Are you back? How long have you been back?" She asks as she looks at him.

Allowing himself to be molested, Lucifer chuckles a little. "Yes, I am really here, Detective." he says in a slightly confused way as he watches her. He considers. "I'm not back for good. Not yet. I'm here with my own mission, which might have to do with your case. And I've been back for about an hour. Long enough to shower, change, and charge my phone." He explains, looking her over slowly. "You are more stunning than I remember." He says honestly as he watches her. "But if I'm no longer welcome, I can continue my investigation separately." He says cautiously, having checked and knowing it's only been a year for her, but it's been so much longer for him.

"No! I mean, yes. Yes, you are welcome. Very welcome." Chloe reassures quickly as she looks at him uncertainly, not sure how to broach any of the subjects she wants to. "It's been a year, Lucifer, I haven't changed." She say as she looks down at herself, tugging the sides of her jacket together self-consciously.

"It's been so, so much longer for me, Chloe." Lucifer murmurs as he looks at her, a lonely, vulnerable expression crossing his face for a moment. "Time moves differently down there." He explains as he looks at her, trying to decipher her expression. And here he thought his memory was almost impeccable, but there is something different in her expression that is throwing him off.

Looking around for a few moments, Chloe grabs Lucifer by the arm and pulls him into the hotel room next to the crime scene which is empty, and she shuts the blinds before she turns to ask Lucifer some important questions about why he's really here, then.

With a chuckling and intrigued, "Detective.." When he gets dragged along, he waits until the blinds are shut before he takes a chance, closing the distance between them in one long stride to push Chloe back against the wall, leaning down to kiss her. Despite his initial movements, he holds himself back when it comes to the actual kiss, which is firm but filled with longing and love, while remaining relatively chaste and sweet.

Chloe gasps a little in shock when her back hits the wall, grabbing Lucifer's arms instinctively, but she returns the kiss eagerly and a little desperately. Her hands slid up from his arms to cup his face as she gets lost in the feeling and tries to keep it together. Gathering herself, she drops her hands from his face to his shoulders again, pushing him back away from her firmly Once he's at a decent distance, she rears back and slaps him hard, eyes glassy with tears.

Head snapping to the side with the slap, Lucifer puts a hand against his cheek. "Bloody Hell, I forgot how much that actually hurts around you, Detective." he says with a little chuckle before he looks back at her, worried when he sees the look on her face. "Chloe.. are you alright?" he asks as he lifts his hand to cup her cheek gently, memorizing the feel of her soft skin.

Tears continuing to well up in her eyes, Chloe sniffs lightly. "I'm sorry.. Damnit.. I missed you so much, Lucifer." She explains, before she curls her hand around the back of his neck and pulls him in for a deeper, desperate kiss.

The words are a balm to Lucifer, but the kiss, that he's dreamt about for literal years. He responds in kind of course, a small sound escaping his throat as he leans down a little more, sliding his hands down from Chloe's waist, to her hips and her thighs. In one smooth motion, he lifts her up and pulls her legs around his waist, keeping her pinned to the wall with his body and his hands under her butt as the kiss grows in passion.

Gasping at his casual show of strength, Chloe hooks her legs around him firmly as she slides a hand into his hair and grips the short strands the best she can. But instead of pulling him away, she pulls him closer, trying to express all her pain and longing from the past year, and all of her love.

"Has anyone seen Chloe and Lucifer?" Ella's voice comes from somewhere outside the room, but nearby, and despite how much he wants to get lost in everything Chloe, Lucifer forces himself to pull away, taking a few deep breaths. "You know I'm all about crossing boundaries, Detective, but perhaps we should save this.. discussion.. for another time.." He offers reluctantly as he looks at her, moving away from her slightly and waiting for her to release him before he slowly lowers her to her feet.

Taking a slow, deep breath, Chloe nods a little and she murmurs, "Yeah. That.. that's a good idea." She nods a little, surprised at how much she got carried away with him. She does smooth down the damage she did to his hair before she releases him before brushing her hands down over her clothes.. "You.. you said you had your own mission, what is it?" She asks as she looks at him as she tries to recover and at least feel like she has herself put together.

"Right. Yes." Lucifer nods as he tries to get his head back on straight as it were, adjusting his jacket. "A soul escaped from Hell. You see, the doors down there aren't actually locked, so if a soul were able to forgive themselves, they could just walk out." he explains, then adds, "However, there are more dangerous souls, sociopaths specifically. If they are incapable of feeling guilt and yet did very bad things, they still go to hell. One of these sociopaths somehow found a way out. Normally this is Maze's thing, but.." he trails off and spreads his hands, palms up, indicating the fact that Maze is on Earth. "Argus is certainly no Maze." He says with a little frustration, speaking of the demon that took over that particular job, before he looks Chloe over slowly. "This particular sociopath made his way back to Earth. So here I am, to find him and bring him back. I tracked him as far as LA, as fortuitous as that is." He grins as he slides his hands into his pockets, watching her.

Chloe nods a little as she looks at him. "So.. so that's the only reason you came back?" She asks tentatively as she looks at him, knowing that maybe that is unfair to ask, but she has missed him so very much, and now that she knows his time here seems to be only temporary, it creates an ache in her chest.

Lifting his hand to lay it against Chloe's cheek gently, he sighs and shakes his head. "No, I could have sent one of my demons to do this. Hellhounds even. And perhaps that would have been faster. But I would have taken any excuse to leave Hell if there was a chance I could see you again, Chloe." He says in a gentle tone as he watches her. "The demons cannot rebel when I am here doing my job." He points out as he strokes his thumb across her cheek softly.

With a small sigh, Chloe nods a little as she looks up at him. "Yeah." She smiles a little as she looks into his eyes. "So, um.. what does this have to do with my case?" She asks as she looks at him curiously.

Removing his hand reluctantly, Lucifer nods a little. "I believe your victim was killed by my sociopath. It seems we get one last case together, Detective." He says sadly as he watches her, then he motions a little. "We should probably put Ms. Lopez out of her misery." He glances toward the door before he reaches up and smooths a hand over his hair to make sure it's all in proper order before he steps over to open the door and motions for her to go first.

"Right. One last case." Chloe' voice trembles slightly but she get a hold of it, turning and stepping out and nearly straight into Ella. "Oh! Sorry, Ella." She smiles a little at the younger woman as she steadies her.

Looking from Chloe to Lucifer to the hotel room, Ella can't help but smirk a little at the two, even if they don't look particularly disheveled. "Yeah.. no problem, Chlo." She says in a distracted tone, smirking in particular at Lucifer. "I'm still mad at you for disappearing without so much as a postcard." She adds after a moment, pointing her pen at Lucifer with a frown which is about as intimidating as an angry kitten.

"I realize that my departure was rather sudden. And unfortunately I am not back for good." Lucifer explains reluctantly as he looks at the small woman. "All I can do is offer my apologies, and hope for a proper departure this time." He nods slowly and tugs his jacket together a little, trying to keep his aloof expression in the face of the unhappy Ella.

Looking at him suspiciously for a moment, Ella shakes her head, "Don't think all is forgiven, buddy. But I released the body to the coroner, took a look at the wounds again, and it turns out you might be right, I think the stabs were very deliberate, they're definitely lined up in some sort of order, but with the clothes and the blood, I can't see what it is." She explains as she looks at Chloe, shrugging. "I'm gonna get back to my lab and start processing this."

"Thanks, Ella." Chloe says as she looks at the woman, before she turns back to Lucifer. "We should get back to the office, and you can fill me in on the way." She points at him firmly before she turns to start walking back to her car, letting Lucifer follow.

"Speaking of vehicles, what did you do with my Corvette?" Lucifer asks, since it wasn't in the garage were he had left it. He follows after Chloe though, feeling a little comforted by the familiarity of it, and for the moment enjoying the sights and sounds of Earth and the feeling of the sun on his face.

Glancing over at him for a moment, Chloe ohs a little. "Maze and I put it in storage. You know, keep it protected. We didn't want it to get stolen or destroyed somehow, since we didn't know when or if you'd be coming back." She explains as she gets into her car and takes a deep breath as she tries to keep her emotions in check for the moment as she thinks about the possibility of Lucifer never coming back.

Sliding into the passenger's seat, Lucifer nods a little, watching Chloe with a somewhat perplexed look as he nods a little. "Ah. Well. Thank you. Speaking of, where is Maze now?" He asks curiously. "She hasn't responded to any of my texts. I thought she might like to participate in a good old-fashioned hunt."

After staying silent for a few moments, Chloe makes a decision, starting to drive before she replies. "She's been out bounty hunting someone for the last week. She's still staying with Amenediel, Linda and Charlie. Who is getting so big, you won't even recognize him." Chloe says with a little smile as she thinks about the baby. "No sign of wings yet, much to Linda's relief. Amenediel is staying at home with Charlie, though I think he brought him to the Silver City once or twice to show him off to the rest of your siblings." She says as she tries to think of what else has happened that he might need to know about. "Lux is still running.. um.. Maze has sort of taken that over, she's around as much as you ever were, but it has become slightly less popular now that you're not around stirring up business." She smiles a little over at Lucifer as she continues to drive. "Oh, but you said you stopped by the penthouse already, so you probably know that."

"Mmm. I suppose I should text Amenadiel as well, just to let him know why I'm here, before news gets back to him." Lucifer says thoughtfully as he pulls out his phone and taps away at it for a few moments. "Glad to hear all my hard work with Lux wasn't completely wasted. I hate to think how out of tune my piano is by now, though." He says with a little sigh. He glances up and around for a moment as he realizes something. "Where are we going, Detective? This isn't the way to the precinct unless thing have changed more significantly in a year than I realized. Or you are taking a long way because you wanted a little more alone time with me." He teases a little, still not sure what it is between them, but knowing that at the end of this case he's going to have to let her go. Or at least, insist that she let him go. A woman like her shouldn't spend her entire life pining over the Devil.

"Back to Lux, for a minute, I just, I need to talk to you without anyone interrupting and it's pretty much the only place I can think of where we can have some privacy." Chloe tries to keep her tone light and professional, but there's a tension in it that she just can't get rid of, and it's not long before she is able to park in the alley beside Lux.

Arching an eyebrow but smirking a little as he looks Chloe over, Lucifer grins and licks his lips. "Well, another private chat, Detective. I'm intrigued .. But I don't think we have time for more than a proper snog. We do have an actual case afterall." He says with amusement as he gets out of the car and looks up at the building he called home for so many years.

Taking a deep breath as she remembers one of the frustrating qualities about Lucifer, Chloe rolls her eyes but even this makes her smile. "That's not exactly what I had in mind, Lucifer." She puts her hand through his arm though, preparing to head into Lux when he stops her and she turns to look at him questioningly.

"What fun would it be if we went the normal way?" Lucifer glances up and down the alley for a moment before he asks, "Do you still trust me, Detective?" He asks, looking up for a moment before looks down at the blonde by his side.

Confused by the statement and question, Chloe nods a little as she watches him. "Of course. Always, Lucifer." She reassures as she searches his eyes for some clue of what he's planning, and just how worried she should be.

A soft smile crosses the Devil's face as he looks at the amazing woman before him before he pivots them slightly and gives a small shrug, his wings snapping out on either side, missing Chloe's car by mere inches. "Good. I thought we might take the fast way up." He explains before scooping her into his arms bridal style, and in the same movement, launches them both into the sky. The interesting quirk about angel wings is that when an Angel is flying, humans never seem to notice. Not because they're extremely fast or anything, but because a human's brain just can't or don't process what they're seeing, and so the only thing that registers is an empty sky.

Not that Chloe knows any of this And if anyone hears a small scream from somewhere, well, it is LA. Chloe wraps both arms around Lucifer's neck, hiding her face against him with gasping, panicked breaths. "Lucifer!" She squeals as she feels him turn, not immediately letting go even when she can feel him land.

"My apologies, Detective. Are you afraid of heights?" Lucifer asks after he lands, holding Chloe close to him, ever secure. "I would never drop you." He reassures before he leans down to gently set her feet down on his balcony, staying slightly bent over with his hands on her hips as she retains her death grip around his neck.

"No.. I.. I'm not afraid of heights." Chloe denies, shaking her head and ever so slowly releasing her grip on him. "I do object to being launched into the air without warning. I mean.. I knew you had wings, but I've never seen you us them." She slides her hands down to rest on his arms gently as she looks up at him. Having recovered herself enough, she looks over at his beautiful wings for a few moments. "Are.. are you really going to leave again, after you find the soul you're after?" She asks, distracting herself with the pretty wings before she finally turns her gaze to look back up at the man – the Devil – she fell in love with.

Looking down at her sadly for a moment, Lucifer brushes some hair back from his Detective's face, cupping her cheek gently. "I have to, Chloe. To keep you safe. To keep Beatrice safe, and this whole world for that matter." He says reluctantly, not wanting to leave her again either, but he's finally matured enough to realize the consequences for his actions, unfortunately. "Unless you can convince one of my siblings to take my place." He jokes and smiles a little as he watches her, slowly lowering his hand from her cheek.

With tears flooding to her eyes, Chloe slips her arms around Lucifer's waist, pressing her cheek against his chest, listening to his heartbeat and memorizing the feel of him. "You just watch me, Lucifer. You don't deserve to be down there. You should be here, with your friends, with your brother and nephew.. With.. With me." She says with a trembling voice, squeezing her eyes shut as she clings to him.

Surprised at the hug as he always is, Lucifer slowly slides his arms around his detective, and after a moment, curls his wings around them both, sheltering her in their softness. "Possessive. Lucifer likes." He murmurs in half playful, half pleased tone. "If anyone could convince any of my siblings, I'm sure it's you, Detective." He encourages, just holding her and letting her cry for a long as she needs, even if her tears are quiet and silent.

It takes a few minutes, but eventually Chloe opens her eyes a little to look at Lucifer's wings around them both. "Your wings are beautiful.." She says quietly with a small sniffle before she pulls back slightly from him, moving one hand to wipe at the tear stain she left on his jacket. "You should change jackets. I'm going to go splash some water on my face." She move back a little from him, but she bumps into his wings and blinks a few times before she carefully turns in place to look at his wings. She only got a glimpse of them before he left and they didn't seem to be as big as they are now, but given Lucifer's height and such it makes sense that her perception might have been off. Gently, she reaches out and places both hands against the feathers, curling her fingers into their softness.

"They have a mind of their own sometimes." Lucifer admits as he watches her carefully, a little concerned about her and her reactions at the moment, but of course seeing him again would be emotional for her, he tells himself. He shivers lightly at the feel of her fingers in his feathers, but he slowly moves them away from her hands and folds them back, forcing them to disappear as he rests his hands on Chloe's hips again as he moves a little closer behind her.. "Now that you've ruined yet another of my suits, care to help me out of it, Detective?" He ducks his head closer to hers to tease her a little, mostly hoping to get a normal reaction out of his Detective. An eye roll, a smirk, some comments about him being inappropriate, anything.

Just like Lucifer will always be himself, at her core Chloe will always be the same person and even after a year apart, her amused but exasperated reaction can't be contained and she rolls her eyes a little. "We don't have time for your shenanigans, Lucifer. We've already wasted time." She points out as sh recovers herself, before she moves away from him to go inside the penthouse, glancing around at a few subtle things that have been moved or changed even from him being back for such a short while. Trying not to focus on it, she moves through to the bathroom to splash water on her face, grateful for her minimalist makeup and waterproof mascara. "Pull yourself together, Decker." She mutters to her reflection before she exits, glancing around for Lucifer before she steps into his closet. "You almost ready?" She asks, stopping in her tracks as she sees the Devil himself in just his slacks, holding up a button-up shirt. And looking better than she remembers from the last time she saw him shirtless in his penthouse. Of course, he was a lot more than just shirtless back then.

"Detective.. honestly, what if I had been naked?" Lucifer teases as he glances over at Chloe, turning to fully face her. And he did change his pants, no doubt so they would match the jacket, so it was certainly a possibility. "Couldn't resist getting a peek?" He asks curiously as he watches her.

Knowing the truth, having finally confessed her feelings, having him back again, all of it makes Chloe not want to miss out on anything, especially if he'll be gone in a few days, or a week. "I wasn't expecting to get a peek. And I've already seen the whole.. package." She point out with an amused look, vaguely motioning toward the front of his pants as she steps further into the room.

"Oh.. Touche, Detective." Lucifer says approvingly as he looks her over for a few moments, lowering his arms to his sides, curious and letting her look her fill. "Are you disappointed you don't get more of a show, or wishing you had waited a little longer?" He asks, trying to keep up the bravado to cover up the unsurety and nervousness that he's feeling.

"Mmm.. I don't know. Neither." Chloe decides as he looks up at him. "You're right, we do have a case." She steps forward a little more until she's standing in front of him. "You know how you've said you're more of a leg man than anything else?" She asks as she tilts her head, looking up at him before she reaches out and places her hand against his stomach gently.

Heavily confused but allowing the Detective to pretty much do whatever she wants, Lucifer stays very still as he watches her. A single nod is given and he smiles. "Yes, I vividly remember mentioning that, Detective. During that awful Player's event, I believe. It's always been true, and may I say, I've always admired yours." He teases as he glances down at her legs for a moment and then back into her eyes.

"Yeah, the case where you decided to flash me." Chloe chuckles a little as she remembers it, just resting her hand against his skin for a few moments. "Well this... is what I've always liked." She says as she glances pointedly at his chest. "Good looking, in shape guys, shirtless..." She bites her lip a little as she finally slides her hand slowly up the center of his chest, a little surprised at how smooth and soft his skin is. It pays to be immortal, apparently.

"Detective.." Lucifer breathes in a strained tone, hands balling up for a moment as he restrains himself from shoving her against the nearest wall again. It takes a great deal of effort for him to continue. "I think you should wait outside for me." He says slowly as he watches her. "Or I might just tear your clothes off and take you against the bloody wall." He mutters, glancing behind her at the wall for a moment. He normally has much better restraint and even enjoys flirting, touching, and teasing, but this is Chloe afterall, and it has been a very, very long time since he's had sex, none of his former lovers in Hell having held any appeal for him anymore. Even the Devil has his limits.

With a small gasp as a stab of desire shoots through her, Chloe looks up at Lucifer's eyes and she nods a little. "Ok." She agrees, knowing that he'd never force anything on her, especially with how he always used to brag about satisfying women, but she also knows herself, and the sexy dreams she's had about Lucifer in the last year, among the more normal ones. And as she has to keep reminding herself, there's a murder that needs to be solved. Forcing her hand away from Lucifer, she looks into his dark eyes for a few moments before before she tears her gaze away and turns to walk out of the closet, taking a few deep breaths as she fans her face.

Relaxing a little once Chloe is out of the room, Lucifer looks down at the shirt he had chosen, realizing he'll have to pick a new one since he completely crushed the collar of this one. This is going to be a lot harder than he thought. He hurries to grab another shirt and finish dressing, trying to not think about when this is all over. "There we are. All set, Detective." He says in his usual cheerful tone as he comes down the steps from his bedroom, glancing around until he sees her standing by the windows and he walks over to her.

Turning away from the window, Chloe looks over Lucifer's gray suit and dark shirt and she smiles a little. "So are we taking the quick way back down, too?" She asks as she looks out at the balcony a little uncertainly.

"I suppose we could take the elevator down, but there will be some rather confused people downstairs who didn't see us come in." Lucifer points out, before he adds, "No one will see us, and I would never drop you, Detective." He reassures in a serious tone as he looks at her.

"I know." Chloe reassures as she looks at him, putting a hand on his arm gently. "Alright, fine, lets do this." She says with a slightly exasperated roll of her eyes, before she holds her arms up, waiting for him to pick her up.

Still thrown by how easily Chloe seems to accept the changes in their dynamic now that she knows the truth about him, Lucifer hesitates to look at her curiously for a moment before he scoops her up, stepping outside and checking his clearance before he spreads his wings. "Ready?" He asks, giving her some time to prepare this time at least.

Chloe places her arms around his neck once she's in his arms, at least having been prepared for the sudden movement this time. "Yeah. I'm good. Up, up, and away." She says with a small smirk, but the slight tightening of her arms around him betrays that she's a little more nervous than she let on.

Tightening his hold a little to help her feel more secure, Lucifer shakes his head. "I'm not Superman." He says with exasperation before he gives a beat of his wings just to get him up and over the railing. There isn't enough room for him to properly circle downwards, so its more of a controlled fall, wings shifting and angling to provide air resistance and keep them from plummeting to their doom while not creating any forward movement. He lands them close to where they took off, dropping the last few feet and taking the impact with his legs so as not to jar Chloe.

This time since she's not afraid, Chloe takes the time to watch Lucifer's wings and how most of his body barely seems to move. They really are moving like separate limbs. She really expected it to have more affect on his body movements. Then again, she also has no idea how they appear with apparently no affect on his clothing, or how exactly he hides them away. So overall, wings don't make a whole lot of sense to her. When they land, Chloe smiles a little at the effort her partner puts into making it as comfortable for her as possible, and she releases him as soon as her feet touch the ground. "It wasn't so bad, that time." She reassures as she smooths out her clothing. "Come on, we'd better get to the station before Ella sends out a search party for us." She says as she walks over to get into her car.

Straightening his jacket a little after he hides his wings away, Lucifer nods, feeling smug and more than a little pleased at the praise. "Of course, Detective. Lets go solve a murder." he says with a smile as he goes over to the car, hesitating when his phone pings from the inside of his jacket. Pulling it out, he eyes it, only two people knowing he's even on Earth at the moment. Curious, he finally unlocks it and opens the text from an unknown number. The message is short but clear:

"I'm never going back."


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow. I am completely floored by the response to this. I'm so glad you guys like it. Writing something with no canon to rely on as far as where to go is actually a bit scary for me. I haven't been able to put this story away, so I decided to post another chapter. I hope you guys like this as much as you liked the first. And thank you for the reviews, they really gave me the confidence to keep going with this story. Thank you again, and I hope you enjoy!**

**Reviews/Comments welcome (and encouraged)!**

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"So you think the sociopath you're after sent you that message?" Chloe asks, back in work mode as she drives toward the precinct after Lucifer tells her about the message he received.

"Well, yes. Who else could it be from?" Lucifer points out as he looks over at her. "It was an unknown number, and I haven't used my phone in a year. No cell coverage or electricity in Hell, I'm afraid." He says thoughtfully. "The question is, how did he find my phone and why would he even bother sending me the message?" He muses as he looks down at his phone for a few moments before he tucks it away inside his jacket.

"Alright, we'll have the techs try and trace the number but it's probably a burner. I'm assuming that your soul didn't die too long ago because otherwise they adapt crazy fast." Chloe says with a little sigh as she tries to wrap her head around what's going on. "Lets see what Ella has to say about what she found, and I'm sure since you texted him, Amenadiel will pop up and want to talk to you at some point. Not to mention Maze, Linda, even Trixie will want to see you. Oh, maybe I should just invite everyone over, and then we can solve everything all at once. I told Dan, Trixie and Ella, and others at the station that you left because of a family emergency, and where your family is from, there are no phones. I know you don't like lying, but I had to tell them something, and that's the closest to the truth I could think of. Like you said, no phones in Hell. And you going back was kid of an emergency." She glances over at Lucifer for a moment, a little surprised at how easily she's already falling back into old habits.

Lucifer nods a little. "All very well thought out plan, Detective. Bravo." He says as he looks over at her with a little smile. "Not exactly sure a party would be appropriate since I am not back permanently." He says with a little bit of discomfort. Normally he enjoys the attention being on him, but there will be may uncomfortable questions and people will be all emotional, not something that he's entirely comfortable with, still. "Your story is fairly accurate. Though I could just tell them I had to go back to Hell, not like they would believe me anyway." He says with a bit of exasperation, looking out the windows at he city which has somehow seems brand new and yet hasn't changed at all.

Reaching over to touch Lucifer's arm gently, Chloe glances over at him for a few moment. "Are you ok, Lucifer? You've seemed a little off, since you got that text." She says as she turns her attention back to the road. "And ok, maybe not a party, but you at least have to come by and see Trixie, she would never forgive me if she knew you came by but didn't visit." She says as she glances at him a few times, going the last distance to the precinct.

"You know me, Detective. I'm always alright." Lucifer reassures with a little smile as he looks at her. "I have missed this. Our banter, riding along with you on cases, this city.." He sighs as he looks out the window for a moment. "Very well, I will visit Beatrice at some point. I am fond of that little urchin." He says thoughtfully as he continues to look out the window, lifting one hand to rub his index finger along his chin slowly. When they get to the precinct, he waits for Chloe to park before he gets out, glancing around before he looks over at Chloe. "Let the onslaught begin." he says with a little bit of amusement as he looks at Chloe

Deciding not to comment on how sad Lucifer sees at the moment, Chloe only becomes more determined to find some way to keep Lucifer topside, with her. Where he belongs. If Amenadiel can have a child and live on Earth, then somehow there has to be a solution for Lucifer. "Your favorite situation, Lucifer. You'll be getting all the attention." She teases him, nudging him lightly before she walks toward the doors. "Just don't get too distracted by your fans. We have a job to do." She says with amusement.

Almost a soon as they step inside, Lucifer draws attention from people exclaiming how he's back, and trying to ask him questions. He manages to escape the first few and slip into the elevator with Chloe. "Well, I knew I was popular around here, but this is a bit ridiculous." He jokes with a little smile as he looks at her. "Don't worry, I know why I'm here, Detective. I won't get too distracted." He reassures as he looks at her, glancing her over for a moment. "At least not by any of them." He muses in a low tone as he watches Chloe.

Rolling her eyes a little, Chloe glances at Lucifer and shakes her head for a moment. "You're incorrigible." She says in an exasperated way, but there's a small smile on her face that she tries to hide. The elevator doors open an she steps out, heading toward her desk. It doesn't take long before she notices Lucifer is not at her side and she glances back to see him being waylaid by three or four officers. Chuckling a little, she waves. "I'll just go talk to Ella, while you deal with.. this." She motions to the situation in general before she turns and walks to the forensic's lab, a little amused by the situation, but she's trying not to dwell on it.

Ella looks up from her microscope and grins as she sees Chloe. "Man, about time, Decker. You get a lead I don't know about, or you just want a little more private time with Lucifer?" She ask, waggling her eyebrows a little with a snicker. "I always knew you guys would end up together, and after a year apart, man... no wonder you needed a little private time, right?" She asks as she takes the slide out of the microscope and goes to replace it with another.

"No, Ella. It's nothing like that. Ok, I did want to talk to Lucifer alone for a little bit, but it was just about his family stuff." Chloe reassures, that being the least harmful thing she could think up to say, not wanting to tell the honest truth because she doesn't want her personal life to interfere with work.

"Uh-huh." Ella grins a little at Chloe, then she turns a little more serious. "You don't actually think he'll leave again, right? I mean, is everything all sorted with his family?" She asks in a hopeful tone as she looks out her window for a moment to where Lucifer is talking to some officers.

Chloe glances out as well and she sighs a little, "It's complicated, Ella. But he's not back for good, not yet. He just has some things to take care of here, and then he'll probably be leaving again." She sighs a little as she watches her partner. "I don't even know if he'll ever be back for good." She admit as she looks back at her friend for a few moments, "But, don't make a big deal out of it, ok? I think he just wants everything to be normal for now." Even if it's not what he wants, it is what Chloe wants, at least for the moment. For once she doesn't want to dwell on the past or the future, instead just wanting to focus on the now. Which works for about ten seconds until she thinks about Lucifer leaving and then tries to think about any way she might be able to keep him on Earth.

Nodding a little as she looks at her friend, Ella glances out the window. "Ok. Yeah, I get that. Dealing with family can be tough and seriously stressful. And after a year of dealing with crap from fam? I can see why he'd want something normal." Something the occurs to her as she pulls a folder over and peeks inside, getting information ready to tell them both once Lucifer stops socializing. "But wait. If he's not back for good, why come back yet? Just need a break?"

Trust the ever astute Ella to pick up on something like that. "I don't know, exactly. You know Lucifer, he gets cagey about stuff sometimes. He said a soul escaped Hell and he had to track it down." She decides to try Lucifer's trick of the truth which sounds pretty outrageous, adding in a slight roll of her eyes for added effect.

"Man, that is so like him." Ella agrees, grinning and laughing a little. "Oh, did he say it was someone famous? That guy never stops. I really admire his dedication." She says with a little grin as she looks at Chloe. "Don't worry, Chlo. I'm sure if it's really important, he'll let you know. Or maybe he just needed a vacay from the family, and wanted to see you.. huh? Huh?" She asks with a wink and a broad grin. Yeah, she ships Deckerstar bad. Even if she was briefly Team Pecker. She was just a little star struck. Now she is back on the proper path.

Before Chloe has a chance to respond, Lucifer slips into the room with a smile. "My apologies. I knew I would be missed, but I didn't realize how many rabid fans I had in the precinct." He smiles a little as he looks between the two. "Now what have you two been talking about, hm?" He asks as he looks between the two curiously, rather amused at the looks on both their faces.

"You, actually." Chloe answers honestly, for once not embarrassed abut anything she told Ella. "I was just telling her about the little detour we took to talk about your family stuff.. how you're not really back for good yet, but while you're in town you're going to help on our case. Is that about right?" She asks as she looks at him, completely straight faced. Having a child has made her master that skill.

"I know, and it totally sucks, Lucifer. We all missed you here. It's just not the same. You said you had a big family right, can't someone else handle whatever it is you're doing?" Ella asks as she looks at him with a subtle pout.

"That's about it, yes, Detective. Quite a skillful summary." Lucifer notes with definite double meaning, at least for the Detective. He tilts is upper body toward the Detective briefly before he looks over at Ella. "Yes, I do have a rather large family, Ms. Lopez. But I'm afraid this is something I'm uniquely suited to. And definitely not a job any of the others want. Lets not dwell on it, hm? Do you have any information about the case?" He prompts the woman, seeming to be getting increasingly uncomfortable talking about leaving and all of that.

"Oh yeah, of course. Murder trumps family drama. For now." Ella says firmly as he points her pen at him, then she picks up a folder. "So I got the coroner to rush the cleanup so we could get a look at the wounds." She hands the folder over to the two. "You were right, Lucifer. Took me a little bit to connect the dots and figure out the word, but it seems to just say 'Never'. Which is totally random and doesn't really explain anything." She says with a small shake of her head.

Opening the folder to look at the contents, Chloe looks at the clean photo of the knife wounds before looking at one with the lines drawn in from one to the other. "That is strange. But it must mean something to the killer for them to take the time to do this. It's very meticulous." She notes as she looks at it.

Looking over Chloe's shoulder at the photos, Lucifer sighs in frustration, "Or this is just one part of the message." He says seriously as he looks at Chloe for a moment before he looks up at Ella. "Perhaps the rest of the message is included in something left at the crime scene." He offers to the woman, hopeful maybe of that being the case, but at the same time having a feeling that it isn't.

Chloe glances over at Lucifer at his tone, then she turns to stare at him for a moment. She knows she needs to talk to him in private because it seems like Lucifer might know more than he's letting on at the moment. Which means it might have to do with his escaped sociopath.

"No such luck yet." Ella says with a shake of her head. "But that's a really good thought, Lucifer. One scary, slightly disturbing thought, but have to keep an open mind right?" She nods a little before she looks down at the evidence on the table before her. "I still have a lot of evidence to process though so maybe I'll find more for you later."

"Alright, thanks, Ella. We'll go see if we can find next of kin, see if there are any witnesses." Chloe closes the folder with the pictures, then says, "Text me if you find out anything." She adds before she turns and tugs at Lucifer's sleeve with a meaningful look before she steps out into the bullpen area and back over to her desk which hasn't really changed in a year. Sitting down and putting the folder aside, she waits for Lucifer to find a perch before she leans toward him. "You know something, is this the guy you're looking for? Did he do this?" She keeps her voice low, looking around for anyone that might overhear them.

Sitting down in the chair next to Chloe's desk, Lucifer leans over a little toward her and he nods slowly. "Ferdinand Dalton. It's no wonder he became a killer with that sort of name." He keeps his voice low as he continues, "From what I recall, he was a serial killer about a decade ago. Left a string of messages for the police on and around the bodies. Killed for the excitement of it, charming man on the face of it. At least he puts forth a persona which allows him to pass under the radar. Very good at blending in so as not to raise flags." He explains which might be why he is having a little bit of trouble tracking him and likely how he escaped Hell to begin with. "I didn't realize he would go straight back to killing, and with a side of torture now that he's had some time to study from the demons in Hell. I might have to bring the Hounds up sooner than I anticipated."

"I know you said that the doors aren't locked down there, but next time you might want to make an exception." Chloe says with a small sigh, turning toward her computer to see if they have any information on the guy, hesitating for a moment before she looks over at him. "Wait.. Hounds? Like Hellhounds?" She asks in a soft tone, very concerned about the citizenry of LA if he brings something like that up.

Lucifer watches his Detective's expression change and he reaches out to put his hand over hers gently, reassuringly "Yes, Hellhounds. But don't worry. To humans they can either be invisible or appear as normal dogs. They're very well trained and very intelligent. They would never disobey an order from me." He smiles a little a he watches her, giving her hand a light squeeze before he withdraws it again.

Right. Chloe almost forgot about the weirdness that is Lucifer. She sighs a little and closes her eyes for a few moment before she nods a little. "Ok.. I'm going to trust you on that, but the only thing I can do, is old-fashioned police work to try and track this guy down." She says with a little shrug as she turns back to her computer.

Taking his phone out of his pocket as it buzzes, Lucifer nods a little. "Well, I will give you some time to do that, Detective. I need to go see my brother, apparently. Demanding bugger." He says as he looks at several texts he has from him, briefly showing Chloe his screen and the five or six texts he's gotten just recently.

Nodding a little, Chloe smiles as she sees the screen. "Go. I have boring research and interviews to do things that you hate anyway. You need to go see them." She insists with a small nod of her head. "I will text you if I find out anything new otherwise I can just see you later. If you're not back before then, maybe we can have dinner." She offers as she looks at him, sounding rather hopeful.

"Ohh... I would love some good Mexican while I'm here. The food in Hell is, well, not very palatable to say the least." Lucifer says quietly, then adds, "Perhaps we could get takeout from that little place down by the beach, the one that was right near that tackle shop where we had that case of the man with a harpoon through him?" He prompts as he looks at Chloe, having no idea the name of the place but remembering the food.

"No, we can't go there. They closed three months ago." Chloe says sadly with a little shake of her head thinking about it for a few moments, "Oh, what about the one off Sunset? The one like two blocks from that.." She pauses, refusing to blush, but she drops her tone to nearly a whisper. "That sex shop you insisted on going in while I waited in the car for twenty minutes during that messy double homicide.." She shakes her head a little as she remembers his antics.

Lucifer looks rather disappointed about the place closing, then nods, looking intrigued, "Ohhh.. I remember that place, excellent enchiladas." He says with an approving nod. "Do you have to get home early to your spawn?" He asks curiously as he rises slowly and tugs his jacket together.

Smiling as she realizes most of their reference points have to do with crimes, Chloe shakes her head a little. "Um, no.. she's staying at a friend's tonight." She explains as she looks up at him. "So if I don't see you until later, I'll just text you.. I can pick up something from there and... maybe take it back to the penthouse? I may prefer my place, but you have the better view." She points out with amusement as she watches him.

"It's a date, Detective." Lucifer replies playfully as he watches her. "Finally." He adds with a single lift of his eyebrows upwards as he grins at Chloe. "Until then." He says as he turns and heads for the elevator, sighing a little as he pulls out his phone to answer it. "Will you give a Devil a few minutes to respond, Amenadiel? Honestly. I'll be over in a few minutes." He says before he hangs up on his brother, shaking his head in exasperation.

~oOo~

Not having a car isn't precisely a problem since he still has his wings, and he makes it to Linda's in record time, finding a safe place to land before he walks around to the door and knocks before he tests the handle and steps inside once he finds it's open. "Hello, Brother." Lucifer says confidently as he comes down the steps into the home to look over at where his brother was apparently pacing by the table.

"Luci!" Amenadiel says in relief and surprise, walking over to give his little brother a firm hug and a strong pat on the back, though he keeps it brief. "I'm sorry I haven't been to visit you. Charlie has been keeping us very busy." He admits with a smile. "They adore him in the Silver City. I've talked more to our siblings in the last year then I think I have in the lasts century." He says with a small chuckle. "But why are you here, Lucifer?" He asks in concern.

Grunting a little in surprise at the hug, Lucifer awkwardly returns it. "Right. Yes, well, there's never been a Celestial baby, has there? We weren't even really babies ever, now were we?" He asks as he adjusts his jacket to keep it from rumpling and then motions between him and his brother. "Don't worry, Brother. I'm here doing my duty as King of Hell. A sociopathic serial killer escaped, Ferdinand Dalton. You know how difficult they can be. And without Maze keeping them in line, it's much more difficult." He admits, shaking his head in exasperation. "I am here for a week, maybe. I'm going to be calling in the Hounds soon though. Mr. Dalton has started to kill again. And I simply cannot allow that."

Amenadiel doesn't look any more comfortable with the mention of Hellhounds than Chloe did, but he nods slowly, "I understand. There hasn't been a soul that has escaped in some time." He says thoughtfully as he thinks about it. "Is there anything I can do to help you?" He doesn't want Lucifer to go back just yet, but he knows that if the man is killing again, they cannot allow it to continue.

"No.. No, brother, this is on me." Lucifer reassures with a small nod. "You have your own family to look after. This is all part of my job." He says before he sighs a little. "Chloe is working on Mr. Dalton's first victim." He slides his hands into his pockets and looks away from his brother for a few moments. "It's been.. good.. seeing her again. Working a case, just like old times." He chuckles sadly before he shakes his head, taking deep breath. "I can almost convince myself that it's not just temporary. That we could ever have a second chance.."

"But it is temporary, isn't it?" Amenadiel genuinely asks, not demanding that he return. He can see how much Lucifer has changed and matured, and it hurts to see his brother in such pain. Maybe he just never realized the depth of his brother's feelings for Chloe.

Lucifer nods a little as he glances back at his brother. "Yes, yes. Don't worry, brother. I will be returning to Hell as soon as I catch my lost soul." He reassures, sighing a little and shaking his head. "I know now, when I leave, I'm going to have to try and convince the Detective to give up on me." He explains, shaking his head. "That is, he needs to move on, forget about me. And if I ever return to Earth again in her lifetime, I'll have to avoid her, and all of LA perhaps." Looking around at the changes to the home, the toys scattered around, bottles in the drying rack, and the pervasive odor of baby powder. "She deserves to have a happy life, not pine after me when it's possible I'll never be able to return." He chuckles lightly for a moment. "Ah, but this melancholy doesn't suit me, does it?" He asks as he looks at his brother. "Do tell, is there anything that's happened that I should know?" He asks as he motions vaguely to the house.

Watching his brother sadly, Amenadiel shakes his head a little. No matter that he spent four years at her side, it seems his brother still does not understand the Detective. Now that her heart is set on someone, he can't imagine her allowing him to leave her twice without kicking up some sort of a fuss. He tries to contain his smile at the thought as he tries to consider if there is any way she might succeed. "You're right. Brooding is my thing. It doesn't really suit you, Luci." He jokes with a little smile to try and lift his brother's spirits. "You're going to have to see Linda, and your nephew while you're here. I know you don't like children, you don't even have to hold him, but you should see Charlie. He's growing so fast. And he's smart." He says proudly, straightening a little as he talks about his son.

"Oh alright. If I must And don't get any smart ideas about any sort of party. The Detective already tried that and I told her no. I don't want to make a big deal out of it. I am here to do a job. When that job is completed, I will return to Hell. And that's all there is to it. I cannot leave them alone for too long, lest they get any ideas." Lucifer muses for a few moment and he shakes his head. "Between Linda and the Detective's offspring, I think that is just about everyone I should pop in on, hm?" He notes as he looks around. "So where is the Doctor and child, anyway? It's suspiciously quiet here for a home inhabited by an infant." He points out as he motions to the area and tilts his head to listen.

"They went for a walk. Charlie loves the park." Amenadiel smiles a little. "They go there most days. Normally in the evening after Linda gets off work, but she took today off anyway." He explains, watching his brother carefully for a few moments. "Are you sure it's wise to speak to Trixie?" He asks as he looks at Lucifer. "She's a child, it might affect her more if you're only back for a few days and then disappear forever." He cautions his brother as he looks at him.

"It's not my plan, brother. The Detective insisted. So if you wish to caution anyone, take it up with her." Lucifer says as he pats his jacket for a moment until he finds his flask, opening it to take a drink. "Bloody hell, I am going to have to take a bottle or twenty of this back to Hell with me. So much better than anything down there." He sighs as he looks at his flask before closing it up and tucking it back into his pocket. "You said our siblings have been cooing over Charlie?" he asks as he looks at Amenadiel curiously for a moment. "Does that include our eldest siblings?" He asks, thinking of Michael, Gabriel, etc.

Shaking his head for a few moments, Amenadiel sort of snorts with a sigh. "No. They are as fanatical and stoic as ever. They still keep to themselves. Not even Gabriel speaks to me now when I visit. But with the birth of Charlie, some attitudes have been changing in the Silver City among our siblings. I think you would be proud of them."

"Well congratulations, brother. You've accomplished what I never could. It only took thousands of years." Lucifer rolls his eyes in frustration, shaking his head for a few moments. "I do hope after I leave, you'll at least visit me once a decade, let me know how things are getting on. Hopefully by the time Charlie is old enough to smoke and drink, I'll be able to visit for a day or two and teach him a few things." He says with a slight smirk.

Luckily any objections Amenadiel might have had about that is cut short when Linda comes home with Charlie, pushing the walker inside before she picks up a sleeping Charlie out of it. "Lucifer!" She gasps in surprise, then she motions. "Amenadiel, take Charlie and lay him down, I wore him out." She walks down the rest of the steps and hands the baby off to his father before she looks at Lucifer and smiles. "Wow.. you look really good, Lucifer. I'm not sure what I expected really, but it's so good to see you." She says as she steps forward and in lieu of a hug which he always seems uncomfortable with, she puts her hand on his arm and gives it a squeeze.. "Lets sit down." She motions toward the couch after moving away from him.

"Bloody hell, he really is growing like a weed." Lucifer mutters as he sees the sleeping hcarlie, shaking his head for a few moments before he smiles. "I am immortal, Linda. I'll always look this good." He reminds her a little smugly, but there's a quiver of emotion behind his words. "You look lovely though. Motherhood suits you." Stepping over to the couch, he sits down before turning to face his former therapist.

"I know that tone. Spill it. What's going on?" Linda insists firmly as she looks at her friend and former patient. Someone she actually misses in sessions, as odd as it all was, it was never boring with Lucifer around. Everything else seems so mundane and kind of annoying sometimes. She still does her best as a therapist though.

"What makes you think anything could possibly be wrong, Doctor?" Lucifer asks as he watches her, and when he gets nothing but a deadpan stare back, he nods a little. "Yes, alright." He tugs his jacket together a little as he gets more comfortable. "I'm only here temporarily. I'm just chasing down a soul who is sociopathic and a serial killer. I'm working the case with Chloe." he explains as he looks at Linda. "I thought it would b great, to see hr again. And it is, but it's also horrible. Because when this is all over, I'll be going back to Hell. And I know, when I leave, I'm going to have to let her go." He says as he looks at Linda. "At the very least, I'm going to have to make her let me go. She cannot spend her life waiting, on the off chance that I might be able to make another trip back to Earth. Her life is too short, she's had too much pain already." He explains in a tone filled with worry, pain, and sadness.

Linda's expression softens as she realizes all of that, but also how much Lucifer has grown, to accept his responsibility and put Chloe first. She reaches out to put her hand over his, not worried about being professional since she's his friend not his therapist right now. "Oh, Lucifer. I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what you're going through." She shakes her head a little. "You're right that Chloe shouldn't live her life waiting for you. But that's her decision, Lucifer. You need to explain your thoughts and feelings, but don't do anything to purposely push her away." She says in a firm tone as she looks at him. "Don't be stupid, ok?" She says with a bit of amusement, chuckling a little as she squeezes his hand. "Let her make her own decision. Free Will, remember? You may not like it, but if she chooses not to move on after you explain things to her, then that's her choice." She reassures. "I am so proud of you, Lucifer. Five years ago, you never would have put another person above your own desires. You wouldn't have thought about your impact on other people because you didn't care about other people." She explains as she looks at him, smiling a little. "You've grown so much."

Nodding a little as he listens to the doctor's words, Lucifer looks away and glancing around at some of the knick-knacks sitting around to avoid looking back at her. "Well, any growth I have made is because of you, Linda. You and the Detective, really." He finally looks back at Linda with a soft smile. "They say that love changes you. I never believed that. But now it's rather clear, isn't it?" He asks, still not saying the exact words, but the sentiment is clear enough in his actions and words. The L word is perhaps the scariest of all for him.

"Yes. It certainly does. And your first love changes you in more ways than you ever can guess at." Linda reassures him with a little smile, sitting back and clasping her hands in her lap. "So. Do you know how long you might be here?" She asks curiously as she looks at him, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"No, I don't. Only as long as it takes to bring my serial killer back to Hell." Lucifer says in a distracted way before he frowns and reaches into his jacket pocket to pull out his phone, checking the message he just received. "Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut our little reunion short, Doctor. It's the Detective." He can't help but be pleased by even the simplest texts from her, sending out his reply before he gets up. "You've both got my number should you need anything." He leans over and gives Linda a soft peck on the cheek. "Lovely to see you again, doctor." He moves away before anything more can be said, walking out and down the street until he finds an isolated alley, spreading his wings and then launching himself upwards and back toward the precinct, flying high enough to not be so noticeable from the ground, even if the mystery of the Divine keeps humans from noticing anyway. Better to be safe.


	3. Chapter 3

**I was struggling finding an 'ending' place for this chapter since everything was flowing pretty well together, so I hope this doesn't seem so abrupt. Thank you all for reading, and following, and of course for your amazing reviews. It's really gotten me excited for this little story which I had originally expected to leave alone for a while, but my brain had other ideas. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and thank you for reading!**

**Reviews/Comments welcome (and encouraged!)**

* * *

"You called, Detective?" Lucifer asks as he approaches Chloe's desk once he returns to the station, sitting down in the chair beside her desk and crossing his legs as he sits back, perfectly at ease, at least externally.

Chloe glances over and she smiles slightly as she sees him, before nodding a little. "Yeah, I thought you might want to see this." She explains as she hands him a folder. "I pulled the file on your Ferdinand Dalton. It was LAPD that took him down. I mean, I figured that he was a pretty bad guy given what you said, but this was a scary dude. Like Zodiac killer level scary. I'm surprised it didn't get more news coverage. Seems like they kept a pretty tight lid on it. It's so weird, because I don't remember anyone even talking about this case. Usually something this travels on the gossip wheel at least." She says as she looks down at the file. A decade ago, she was just a rookie cop, but that should have made the possibility of her hearing the gossip even higher.

Taking the folder from her, Lucifer looks through it briefly before he sets it aside, not really interested in the paperwork side of things and they always tend to be so horribly boring. "Well, now that /is/ odd..." He muses with a small frown as he looks at Chloe, and then he picks up the folder again to look through it. "The police had the bodies.. it's not as if they could fail to realize they had a serial killer in their city." Glancing up at Chloe for a moment to see her nodding, he looks back down at the folder. "The easiest explanation is that he had an accomplice on the inside." Putting the folder back on the desk, Lucifer leans forward a little, his tone full of distaste as he thinks about yet another example of LAPD corruption.

"No. No, no, no. That is not possible, Lucifer. I know you think there's a lot of corruption around here and maybe there is some. But not to this level. Not to where evidence might be subverted to allow a serial killer to go free." Chloe denies in a firm tone, but she tries to keep her voice low as she looks at him. "He killed /seven/ people before he was caught, Lucifer. Seven. No way anyone would have purposely allowed that to happen unless they were as crazy as he was. Is." She is really bothered by the idea that someone might have helped this man get away with something as horrible as that. Sure, they were all killed relatively quickly before he stabbed and/or carved his messages into the body, but that doesn't make him any better.

Lucifer shrugs slightly as he looks at his Detective, watching her struggle through the possibility. "Well, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck.." He trails off and then sighs. "People are certainly going to start drawing parallels soon." He points out, tapping his finger against the file. "Especially if there's another body before I find him. Obviously they won't think it's him, but they might think there was an accomplice, or a copycat. Since this was not in the news much, it seems unlikely that they would think a copycat though." For a moment he stares forward and takes a deep breath for a few moments, before he turns his attention back to Chloe. "Come on. Might as well have you meet Marta and Bonnie." He stands smoothly, adjusting his jacket and fidgeting with his cuffs before he looks over at her expectantly.

"Marta and Bonnie?" Chloe asks, getting a bit of whiplash from the change of subject, slowly standing, glad for a little bit of distraction. "Please tell me that is somehow relevant to what's going on." She closes her eyes for a moment before she stretches slightly from sitting so long and prepares to follow him.

"What? Of course it does. They're my hounds." Lucifer explains as he starts to walk toward the exit with her. "We want to catch this killer as soon as possible, right?" He points out. "Though you may not get human justice necessarily, at least you know the killer will be gone, never to return this time." His tone turns darker and a little more angry toward the end, threatening a dark end to his journey, even if he can't be permanently wiped out, he's sure going to wish he could be.

Following behind him, Chloe nods a little, putting a hand gently on his arm after the elevator closes. "It's ok. As long as he's off the streets, that's good enough for me." She says with a little shrug as she looks up at him, squeezing his arm for a moment.

Giving a small nod in Chloe's direction, Lucifer looks forward for a moment before he lifts his hand to place it over Chloe's on his arm, giving it a little squeeze before he releases it when the elevator opens. He knows how his Detective is. She always disliked the implication of anything going on between them at work, so he'll respect her wishes, especially since he won't be around long enough for a relationship Once he leads Chloe to the back parking lot which is hardly ever used, he glances at Chloe. "Stay right where you are, Detective. Don't turn your back, and don't run." He says in a firm tone before he stakes a few steps forward and lifts his fingers to his mouth, letting out a barely audible, whistle of discordant tones. There's the sound of dogs barking and howls in the distance, but in the ethereal way that they seem to be coming from all around them but also no specific point, which might be unsettling but Lucifer doesn't seem bothered, just waiting patiently.

Chloe, on the other hand, besides wincing at the whistle, is freaked out. She has no problems with dogs in general, in fact she really likes them for the most part. But the deep barking of obviously big dogs coming from everywhere at once, with no dog in sight, is weird. Still, she stands her ground like Lucifer told her to, taking a deep breath and then squinting a little as she sees two big somethings approaching in the distance, who seem to almost blur forward several times and become smaller. By the time she can see them clearly, they look like two normal dogs, if perhaps on the large size but not out of the realm of possibility. One looks like a black lab, the other a German shepherd. "Huh." She says in surprise, relaxing a little, since that was not at all what she was expecting. And yeah, she knows it's probably just something like however Lucifer hides his 'true' face, but that doesn't mean she isn't surprised at how very normal they look.

"There are my girls.." Lucifer says with an affectionate tone many pet owners use. He crouches down slowly when the dogs approach, chuckling as the dogs each come up for petting, which he obliges them both. "Oi! No jumping." He snaps at one of them that tries to hop up to lick him. "Don't you dare ruin my suit." He scolds them lightly, before he looks over his shoulder at Chloe with a somewhat relaxed, almost boyish expression, grin on his face. "It's alright now, Detective. Come on. This is Marta." He points to the german shepherd. "And Bonnie." He points to the lab. "Now girls, this is my friend Chloe Decker. She's human, but she's not to be harmed." He says in a firm tone to each of them, who sit down to obediently listen to their master, giving single barks which must be their way of acknowledging their acceptance.

For a moment, the look on Lucifer's face sort of takes Chloe's breath away, and she smiles softly as she looks at him. "Nice to meet you." She says politely as she walks up to stand beside Lucifer, extending her hand to let them sniff her before she tries petting them, which they submit to with lolling tongues. "I take it this is not what they always look like?" She asks as she looks over at her partner.

Watching his hounds closely to make sure that they obey, Lucifer remains crouched in front of them as he lets Chloe pet them. "No. Much like me, their appearance is off-putting to humans. They know to disguise themselves when they're on Earth. They're far more intelligent than your average dogs." He says proudly as he looks at the two. "These two I raised and trained myself. They're the best trackers in Hell." He explains, reaching into one of his pockets to pull out what looks like some fabric, holding it out toward the two. "This is from Frederick Dalton, he escaped Hell, my darlings. I need you to find him and bring him to me." He explains firmly as he looks at first one and then the other.

Dutifully, if a little reluctantly, the two Hellhounds move away from Chloe, sniffing the cloth carefully before stepping back, both heads tilting back to howl toward the sky before they turn and dart off toward the city, forms shimmering as they seem to skip forward by leaps and bounds.

Staring a little after the dogs, Chloe shakes her head a little. "Wow..." She says in a clearly impressed tone before she looks over at Lucifer. "Tell me that is not from the crime scene." She says in a disapproving tone as she looks at the cloth.

"Of course not, Detective." Lucifer says with exasperation, putting the cloth back in his pocket. "It's from Mr. Dalton's cell, in Hell." He explains before he takes a deep breath and smiles. "Well then. That about wraps up all I can do for today. No news from Ms. Lopez yet I take it, so you can either go back in and continue to tie yourself up in knots, or we could go have our dinner." He offers with a little grin, looking forward to having a little bit of alone time with his Detective. He looks her over slowly for a moment as he thinks about all the things he'd like to do during that alone time.

Considering her options for a few moments, Chloe nods a little. "I guess I could take off a little early, we've already interviewed some witnesses and there's no leads yet.. I can always come back in if Ella comes up with anything." She's a little more willing to take a little time off for dinner and such on this case, since they know who did it, though they can't exactly just say that due to the nature of the case. When her phone buzzes in her pocket though, she sighs in frustration, but when she looks at it, it's not quite what she expects. "Actually, Lucifer.. I think you should go back to Lux. There's someone there who will want to see you, I'm sure." She turns her phone to show him the text she just got from Maze.

_I rock. Meet met at Lux._

Of course it's not signed because it's Maze and she probably figures people should know who she is, or saved her number or something. Anyway, it's their problem to figure out, not hers.

Delight turns into confusion until Lucifer reads the text and then he nods. "Ah. Yes. I should talk to her before anyone else finds her." He says thoughtfully, sighing a little since he was looking forward to dinner. "I'll text you when I'm through, and then dinner?" He asks, wondering why their dates always keep getting interrupted by things. Cases, Confusion, Potential poisoning, Maze... It's all very frustrating.

"Yeah. Go talk to Maze, and we'll have dinner a little later. I'll stay and see if I can figure out anything more here." Chloe offers as she puts her phone away before she steps up to Lucifer and lifts herself up a little to place a soft kiss on his lips, her hand resting along his cheek for a moment as she lets it linger. Stepping away from him afterward, Chloe smiles a little and gives him a nod before she turns to go back into the station to finish her work.

Once he realizes her intention, Lucifer leans down to meet Chloe in the gentle kiss. He savors the feeling because these moments mean more to him than any of the kisses he has shared with anyone else, no matter how passionate or skillful. The simple, chaste kiss which is somehow still full of so much emotion, is something he will always remember. After it ends, he smiles slightly as he watches her, and he nods. "Until later, then, Detective." He says with some of his usual playfulness, but there's still a softness to his tone he can't disguise. Deciding to take a more normal way back to Lux, he hires an Uber, nodding to the surprised looking bodyguard by the door. The club itself is pretty much the way he left it, even though it's pretty barren at this time of day, but it's not difficult for him to find Mazikeen at the bar.

"Welcome home, Maze." Lucifer says when he gets close enough, hands hanging at his sides rather than in his pockets because he's preparing for any sort of reaction, violent or not, from the demon.

Seeming rather surprised, Maze stiffens for a moment before she turns slowly to look at him. "Lucifer?" She asks in surprise, looking him over for a moment before she frowns, swinging a quick, hard punch at him. "Why are you back? You left without even saying goodbye!" She says angrily as she glares at him.

Even though he could have, Lucifer doesn't block the punch, stumbling back a step from the force. He touches his jaw and then his nose a little to see if it's bleeding, before he turns his attention back to Maze. "A soul escaped." He answers the first question, then adds, "And in my defense, the only person I said goodbye to was the Detective. I didn't want to risk Dromos having any more right ideas." He says as he looks at Maze, before he sighs a little. "Besides, Maze. Your home is here, now." He says as he motions around. "I have to go. The demons have to be held in check. I've only been back for.." He checks his watch. "About five hours. The Detective said you were on a bounty and hadn't been in contact." He explains why he didn't try and text her, trying to forestall any other punches. Although he would allow it since he probably deserves it for abandoning her like that.

Sending a change in her oldest friend sort of deflates some of Maze's anger and she watches him for a few moments. "I would have gone with you, if you had asked, Lucifer." She adds in a less angry tone as she watches him, not sure exactly how to handle this different side of Lucifer.

"I know, Mazikeen. Which is why I didn't ask. Your home is here. And you need to be here, to protect Linda, and Chloe, and even Charlie. I need you here, to know that they're safe." Lucifer explains as he looks at Maze. "I can't be here, so I suppose you're the next best thing." He says with a slight smirk as he slides his hands into his pockets.

"Wow. I'm still pissed that you didn't even say goodbye. Not even a text." Maze says in a firm tone as she points at him. "But I guess I can understand why. That was kind of messed up, what happened. You know Chloe took it pretty hard. First thing she wanted to do was get the penthouse straightened out. I found her at least once, drunkenly passed out in your bed, wearing one of your shirts." She shakes her head for a moment. "You're going back after you get the soul, aren't you?" She asks with a small frown.

Eyebrows lifting in surprise as he hears that tidbit bout Chloe, Lucifer smiles a little. "That seems to be a bit of a habit from the Detective. Drunkenly falling asleep in my bed. Though stealing my clothes is a new quirk." He says before he steps over to the bar and leans over it to get two glasses, pouring some whiskey for both him and Maze. "I have to go back, Maze. I'm the only one who will. You know that Hell has to be ruled by a Celestial, and it's not as if any of my siblings are clamoring for the position." He says with some bitterness to his tone before he turns and offers her one of the glasses, sipping his own.

"Which is bullshit." Maze points out, taking the glass from him. "You've been on that throne for thousands of years, maybe it's time someone else took a turn. You belong here with us, Lucifer. I mean, come on, it makes me sort of nauseous sometimes, but it's pretty clear you and Chloe got something serious, and you don't have all that much time with her before she's gone forever." She points out in a quiet tone, sounding almost a little sad about the short lifespan of her friends.

"Yes, I'm aware, Mazikeen, thank you for the reminder." Lucifer says dryly before he takes another drink from his glass, shaking his head as he looks down at it, "I... I care more deeply for Chloe than possibly anyone else. I cannot abandon Hell again, knowing the demons might come after her, or cause trouble on Earth, or try to get to Charlie." He says with a small shake of his head, sighing a little. "If you have another solution, I am all ears." Glancing ta her for a moment, he finishes his drink and glances at his watch for a moment.

"Seriously, you still can't say it?" Maze asks a little incredulously as she looks at him. "You love her. It's not such a bad thing to say, you know." She shakes her head for a few moments. "You got a hot date with Chloe or something?" She asks as she sees him checking his watch.

Lucifer glances over at Maze before he nods slowly. "Actually, yes. She's going to bring some dinner over, so I'm afraid she can't have drinks with you tonight." He says with a slight smile. "She insisted at I talk to you first, in order to hash out any issues between us, presumably." A small snort is given as he touches his jaw for a moment. At least he didn't get a bloody nose. "Shall we consider it sorted, or would you like to hit me again?"

"Don't tempt me." Maze responds quickly as she looks at him. "But naw. We're good. I understand. Go have your dinner, I'll head over to Linda's to visit." She shrugs a little as she watches her friend. "Say goodbye this time, alright?"

Nodding a little as he watches the demon before him, Lucifer smiles a little. "You have my word, Maze. Before I leave, I will say a proper goodbye to everyone this time." he reassures as he watches her. "Ah. Also, Marta and Bonnie are tracking the escapee for me, so if you see them, don't be startled." He knows that Maze might be able to see through their disguises if they're not careful so he doesn't want her to think there are two rogue Hellhounds around.

Nodding a little for a moment, Maze's expression softens. "Aw, I miss those two. If either of them ever have a litter, I want one." She says with a firm nod of her head, before she heads for the door. "Don't screw things up with Decker this time." She calls back as she walks up the stairs.

Rolling his eyes a little, Lucifer doesn't even bother arguing. There's really no point when it comes to Maze. Pulling out his phone, he lets the Detective know that he is finished with Maze before he heads up to the penthouse. Pouring himself a drink, he looks around slowly, wondering just how often the Detective had spent the night. Curious, he walks up and into his closet, looking around for anything that might be missing or out of place. Everything is pretty much as he left it, though many of his suits had been put into protective garment bags. Other than that small change, nothing really seems out of place, though he should expect nothing else from the Detective. She is nothing if not meticulous.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading, following, and reviewing this! I really did intend to leave it as a one-shot until I finished my other story, but the response was so amazing that I've somehow found time to do them simultaneously. I hope everyone is still enjoying this! **

**I am a little torn though. Would you guys rather they catch Mr. Dalton quickly, and get on with personal stuff rather than case-related stuff, or would you rather see more with the case? I'm having trouble deciding, so let me know! And thank you so much again for reading!**

**Reviews/comments welcome (and encouraged)!**

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Returning to the main area, Lucifer takes a drink out of his glass as he walks over to the doors to the balcony, slowly opening them since so far it's turning out to be a lovely evening, though as he steps out onto the balcony to look around, he does see some clouds gathering on the horizon. As he so often does when he's out here, he gives a brief glance upward at the sky and frowns slightly. With a small sigh, he shakes his head, not believing he's about to do this, but it seems he is. "Father. I've gone back to being the good little son, playing my proper part. Not for you. You ensured Chloe's birth, you brought me back when I asked you to protect her. Now I am doing my part to make sure she is protected, because I care for her. Which is apparently what you wanted as well." He gives a bitter laugh and he shakes his head. "But I don't care anymore. I'm done caring what you think. Hoping to get some sort of response. I have more important things to concern myself with. Because despite the many reasons I have given her to hate me, the Detective has made her choice. And for some reason, she's decided to love me. Me." He laughs lightly, incredulously. "That is the greatest miracle of all. And now, I have to hurt her again,in order to make sure she's safe. Terrible irony." He shakes his head before he straightens, looking up at the sky for a moment. "Not that I expect a response, but I just wanted you to know, if you're listening, that you and I... we're done." There's not even any anger in his tone, just resignation about his fate. He finishes his drink before he turns to head back inside the penthouse.

Barely getting a chance to return his glass to the bar, Lucifer looks over when the elevator doors open, smiling a little. "You made excellent time, Detective." He notes as he looks at her curiously for a few moments, "Care for a glass of wine? I know there's an excellent Cabernet in the wine cellar." He offers as he watches her.

Stepping out of the elevator with the bag of food, Chloe nods a little as she looks at him. "Sure. Did everything go alright with Maze?" She asks as she looks at him for a few moments, not having seen her around downstairs or anything.

Briefly touching his jaw in memory, Lucifer nods a little. "All worked out." He reassures as he looks at her, then he motions. "Feel I thought we might eat on the balcony, it's a beautiful night. Hopefully the weather holds, we may be in for a storm later." He muses before he tugs at his jacket. "I'll be right back with that wine." He adds before he moves toward the stairs, not sure why he feels a little awkward in Chloe's presence. For once, he just wants to enjoy being with for the limited time he has.

Once Lucifer heads downstairs, Chloe takes a moment to remove her jacket, and decides to slip out of her boots as well just to be more comfortable, before she walks out onto the balcony, dragging a few chairs close to the table, smiling faintly as she remembers the last time they shared dinner and a bottle of wine here. Shaking her head, she takes the containers out of the bag before she looks out at the horizon, staring out at the thunderclouds that are approaching.

"I never really get tired of this view." Lucifer muses quietly as he comes up behind Chloe with the wine bottle and two glasses, chuckling a little as he sees her jump. "Apologies, Detective. I didn't realize you were quite so focused. Penny for your thoughts?" He asks as he motions toward the table, setting the glasses down and pouring some wine in both before he sits.

"Oh, one of these days you are going to give me a heart attack, Lucifer, and then you'll be sorry for sneaking around." Chloe says firmly as she looks at him, moving over to sit down across from him, taking a sip of the wine before she opens the take out container. "I was just... Thinking about... The case." She answers slowly as she thinks about it. Then deciding to tell a bit more of the truth, she focuses on her food as she admits. "And.. maybe thinking about you. The last time we were on this balcony. What happens when the case ends." She takes a bite of her food to have something to focus on so she won't have to look at Lucifer yet.

Having collected is own food and taken a few bites as he listens to Chloe, he looks down briefly at it, poking it around with his plastic fork for a moment. "Yes. Speaking of." He sets the food aside for a moment, deciding that it's best for him to broach this subject now before things go further. "There's a very good chance that when I leave this time, I won't be able to come back. Not in your lifetime, at least." He says seriously, taking a deep breath as he watches Chloe. "And.. as much as I would selfishly hope that you would just never be the same without me, I.." He swallows and clears his throat a little. "I want you to give up on me, when I leave." He finishes firmly, looking down at his hands. "You may as well consider me dead, tell the others that, if you wish." He decides, finally looking up at Chloe hesitantly, only slightly surprised to see anger on her face.

Not wanting to waste the food, Chloe carefully puts it aside before she looks back at Lucifer. "No." She says in firm tone, before she stands, her voice rising and cracking slightly as she points at him. "You don't get to decide that! You can't just come back after a year, a /year/ of me trying to get over you, and then tell me I should move on. I'm not going to give up. I will find a way to bring you back, to get you out of Hell." She shakes her finger at him in her anger, tears flooding her eyes again. "I /love/ you, Lucifer. It took me /so long/ to realize that. And even longer to actually admit it to myself! We have had so many near-misses, and false-starts. Through gunshots, poisonings, and marriages, a-and stewardess interruptions, and Devil faces, and demon attacks." She gestures back and forth for a moment, sniffling a little before shaking her head. "You don't get to give up now!"

Startled, sad, grateful, and happiness are just a few of the confusing emotions that Lucifer feels as he looks at his Detective. Slowly, he stands and steps closer to her. "Detective..." He says slowly, then sighs lightly. "Chloe." He corrects himself in a gentle tone as he reaches out for her. "Compared to this, all those were rather simple things to overcome. This is literal Hell. You cannot just get a passport and pop in." He reminds her, pulling his hands back whens he swats at him, briefly looking a little hurt before he schools his expression and instead puts his hands in his pockets.

"I know!" Chloe nearly shouts, not wanting to be comforted in that precise moment. "I don't care. I'll find a way." She says before she thumps his chest with her tiny fists. "You don't get to decide this unilaterally, Lucifer. We're partners. You made sure of it, you /insisted/. Well now you're stuck with me. I let you go once, and now.. now you're back. You don't get to leave me behind again." She says in a slightly steadier tone as she thumps his chest again, lot of good it does, since it's sort of like hitting a training dummy. Or a pillow covered rock.

Startled at her sudden violence, Lucifer looks down at her hands, not that they actually hurt or anything. Looking back up at Chloe for a moment, he tries to remember what he knows of human emotions and proper responses, before he carefully puts his arms around his Detective. This time she doesn't slap him or pull away from his touch, and instead rests her forehead against his chest in between where her hands are still balled into fists. Tightening his hold a little, Lucifer engulfs her small form in his arms, resting his cheek against her head gently. "Very well, Detective." He finally concedes in a soft tone, "I'm not sure how much help I will be, but I will answer any questions you need answered about Hell to help you." He adds, somewhat shocked at the vehemence with which Chloe is willing to fight for him. No one has ever fought for him before. Yes, some of his siblings fought with him when he Rebelled, but no one has ever fought for /him/.

Sniffling a little but refusing to let herself cry /again/, Chloe instead loosens her fists and then shifts slightly to slide her arms around him, under his jacket. Turning her head to the side to look out toward the city, she moves slightly closer to him and takes a deep breath before she nods a little. "Damn straight you will." She mumbles softly, trying to keep up her bravado even if she is just scared.

To allow the Detective to change her positions, Lucifer loosens his hold a little, then tightens it a little again once she settles back down, actually starting to enjoy the hugs. At least when it comes to Chloe. "You know I would stay, in a heartbeat, if I could." He reminds her softly, wanting to make sure she understands. "Even if you do choose to move on, I will never forget you. For eternity you will be the woman taught the Devil to love." He chuckles briefly, rubbing his thumb against her shoulder gently as he holds her. "I will never meet someone else like you, Chloe." He murmurs, truly believing that because it's not a if his Father is going to go around creating more mortals to thrust into his path, but there's also the possibility he may never get over Chloe.

"Hah. Never say never, Lucifer." Chloe mumbles as she gets a hold of herself again, carefully lifting her head to look up at him, so she doesn't accidentally headbutt him, leaning up slightly kiss him tenderly.

Of course, Chloe still doesn't understand, doesn't know she's a Miracle of God, and for now Lucifer will keep that to himself. There's been too much turmoil this evening. He returns the kiss softly until he hears his partner's stomach growl, pulling back and looking down at her in surprise. "Bloody Hell, Detective, have you eaten at all today?" He asks in surprise, since that was rather a loud sound. It's broken the moment, but he doesn't mind for right now, slowly releasing Chloe, though his hands linger lightly on her waist until she releases him as well.

As startled as Lucifer, Chloe glances down at her stomach as well, as if she expects something to come bursting out of it. "Oh.. wow.. um.. I did sort of skip lunch." She admits, blushing before she releases Lucifer to sit back down, wiping her eyes briefly and taking a rather large sip of wine before she picks up her food.

Returning to his own seat and his own food, Lucifer shakes his head a little for a moment. "It probably would have just been one of those ghastly sandwiches from the vending machine anyway. You might be better off not eating those." He notes in between bites of food, glancing up at Chloe curiously, glancing briefly at the sky as the wind starts to pick up and thunder rumbles in the distance. The stor is approaching faster than he expected, but he estimates they should be able to finish their food in peace.

"You are such a food snob." Chloe accuses with a little shake of her head, glad that they can get back to a normal discussion and banter, knowing that they're both using it to partially ignore the little spat, but it's also their way of making sure they – as partners, and now perhaps something more – are okay. Tucking her hair back a little when the wind catches some strands, she looks up and over at the oncoming storm. "Sounds like it's going to be one of those nights." She says thoughtfully as she watches some lightning strike along the horizon, staring for a few moments before turning back to face the dapper man in front of her.

"I hardly think it's being a snob, wanting to taste something other than plastic when I eat something." Lucifer points out with some exasperation, picking up his wine to take a sip before he follows her gaze out to the horizon. "You're not afraid of a little storm, are you?" He asks in concern, trying to remember if he'd ever been around Chloe when there was a big storm. Although the city rarely gets storms, likely the reason that people seem to think of them as a bit sinister, from his experience.

Finishing her food and closing up the container, Chloe picks up her wine glass to take a drink before she sits back in the chair. "What? No, I'm not afraid of them. I always liked storms actually." She muses as she looks down into her glass. "There's just something powerful about them that are exhilerating. My mom used to freak out about them, she was convinced the house was going to wash away, or we were going to lose power for days because of some lightning strike." She chuckles a little as she thinks about her mother's antics for a few moments, tilting her head at her glass before she looks up at Lucifer again.

"And? Did you ever lose power?" Lucifer asks curiously as he finishes his food as well, before picking up the wine bottle and leaning forward toward her with a curious tilt of his head as he tilts the bottle toward her.

"Just a little." Offering her glass out to him, Chloe holds up her free hand when he gives her more than 'a little. "Stop! That's more than enough." She laughs a little before she nods slowly. "We lost power once. For like three or four hours. My mom just about swooned the entire time. It got a little stuffy in the house, even with the windows and doors open, but that was it. It was the afternoon so we didn't even really have to worry about food, though my mom immediately pulled out all the candles." She shakes her head a little in amusement, sipping her wine and staying leaned toward Lucifer a little.

Filling his own glass after Chloe, Lucifer puts the bottle aside and he chuckles a little at the story, enjoying listening to her tell it at least. "I cannot picture your mother swooning. At least.. not for real." He smirks a little as he looks at her. "Oh.. Let me take these inside before they blow away." He puts down his glass and picks up the empty containers and the bag that thy came in before he walks inside with them, disappearing down a small hallway between the bar and his bedroom wall. Coming back out a few moments later, he hesitates as he sees Chloe standing by the edge of the balcony, staring out at the storm, the wind picking up her hair and blowing it around. It makes him think of some sort of elemental goddess, which makes him chuckle slightly. Perhaps Dromos was right and he really is getting a bit soft, he's never been prone to such fanciful thoughts before.

Bypassing his wine glass for the moment, Lucifer instead steps up behind Chloe and slightly to the side. "You look stunning, standing out here with the storm approaching." He drops his head to place a soft kiss on her shoulder as he rests one hand on her waist before he straightens to look out at the ever darkening city.

Leaning back slightly against Lucifer, Chloe smiles softly without taking her eyes off the view in front of her. "What is it really like in Hell?" She asks softly, never having asked before because of other stuff, but she sort of wants to know the place where Lucifer has been forced to spend most of his life.

"Well, this is unexpected." Lucifer matches her quiet tone, feeling it appropriate given their closeness and the rising storm in front of them. "It's dark. The sky is always covered in clouds much like these, swirling around one central point. A spot of brightness in eternal twilight." He says as he motions toward the sky with his free hand. "But instead of rain, ash constantly falls from the sky. It seems nearl endless. Even from my throne which is high above the main level. One of the reasons only a Celestial can rule Hell. A demon literally can't reach the throne." He says with a little chuckle as he considers it. "The buildings, or rather, the cells, along with the throne, are all made out of a dark stone. A bit like the color of slate, maybe a bit darker. It's hard to tell the true color." He explains as he looks up at the sky for a moment.

"Sounds desolate, but not exactly the fire or brimstone I was expecting." Chloe muses as she tries to picture what Lucifer is describing. "And you said everyone gets their own little... cell or whatever? Their own private Hell?" She asks as she glances back at him, tucking back some hair to get it out of her face as she watches his profile curiously, the thunder getting closer as flashes light up the sky here and there.

Lucifer glances at Chloe and then nods quietly, before he looks back out at the city, finding it hard to look at her while he talks about Hell. "Mmm. Yes. You die, you wake up there. Usually without knowledge of what happened. Many don't even realize they're in Hell." He muses as he thinks about the souls he's seen over the years. "A human's own guilt determines their Hell most of the time. For those that might not feel guilt about what they did, but are still very bad people, there is an intake process that is more like what humans have fictionalized. The soul arrives, their life examined, and then led off to whatever torture is suitable or whatever the demon at the time is in the mood for." Taking a deep breath of the building ozone in the air, he tilts his head back a little to look up at the sky, the rain starting to fall a little but they're protected by the overhang on the balcony at the moment.

Shivering a little at the breeze and the thought of how many souls are being tortured or torturing themselves in Hell right now, Chloe looks down at the city for a moment before she looks up when a flash of lightning lights up the night. "I have a hard time imagining it. I know it's kind of the idea, but I don't think I'd want to see it first hand either." She admits, resting her hands lightly on the railing, extending her hand out to feel some of the rain.

Feeling the shiver more than seeing it, Lucifer releases Chloe and shifts back a little in order to shrug out of his jacket so he can lay it over her shoulders to make sure she stays warm. Returning to his previous spot behind and slightly to the side of his Detective to share at least some of his body warmth with her, he finally nods. "Don't worry, you won't ever need to." He reassures confidently. "When the time comes, you'll be going to the Silver City. Then you can see first hand how annoying my siblings are, and be reunited with your father." He reassures, resting one hand back on her hip as he watches her, tilting his head a little so he can see more of her face.

"Thanks." Chloe mumbles as she glances down at the jacket around her and she moves her hands to grasp the two sides closed, before she looks up at the Devil by her side. "You've said that before. Why are you so confident I'll be going to Heaven and not Hell?" She asks, not thinking she'll actually end up in Hell, but she sort of wants to know his reasoning.

Watching Chloe's eyes for a moment, Lucifer looks somewhat baffled. "Because you are so very /good/, Detective." He says quietly as if it's obvious, which to him it is. "Besides, I would never allow you to stay in Hell. Even if it meant flying you to Heaven myself and breaking down the gates." The answer is so very simple to him that he sounds quite matter-of-fact about everything, because in his mind there is no other option for her.

"Well, that's sweet, Lucifer. I'm not an expert, but not exactly sure that would work." Chloe says thoughtfully, tucking some hair back as it blows into her face again. And as much as she does like storms, a sharp crack of thunder still makes her jump a little. Following the thunder, the skies seem to open up because the rain starts coming down in heavy sheets. Even with the protection offered by the roof over Lucifers balcony, the rain starts blowing in, and the Detective squeaks a little as she gets a face full of mist, making her step back away from the railing. "Ok.. I think it's time to go inside." She says with a little laugh as she wipes her face.

Lucifer doesn't escape the spray either, and he draws back from the railing as well. "Yes, I think you're quite right, Detective." He says with a bit of amusement, turning and guiding her back inside before he turns to shut the doors to the balcony, but not before rescuing the wine glasses and bottle, setting them on his piano before he finishes closing up. "Well that was an adventure." He says as he glances down at his shirt, now spattered with dark spots from the rain.

Once inside, Chloe removes Lucifer's jacket and lays it over the back of the couch, and she tilts her head a little as she looks at Lucifer. "Your clothes are taking quite the toll from being around me today." She snickers a little and then smirks as she watches him, glancing around for a moment since she's not sure what to do now or if she should just leave.

"Yes, I'm starting to think you're conspiring against me, Detective. Though if you wanted me out of my clothes, all you had to do was say so." Lucifer teases with a suggestive grin as he looks her over for a moment. "But lets not let a little rain ruin our night." He is quick to continue, taking a step closer to Chloe. "We could watch a film, or.. oh!" He smiles as something occurs to him. "I could put on a bit of music, and we could dance.. if I recall correctly – and I always do – you rather liked the last time we danced." He offers, watching her closely since he doesn't want her to leave just yet. And besides, she would get soaked going to her car in this rain. So the weather is on his side for once.

Chloe can't help but giggle at Lucifer's suggestiveness, smiling fondly and shaking her head for a few moments. "You should probably change your shirt before either of those.. I know you can't exactly get a cold, but you can't be comfortable." She says as she glances at his shirt for a moment, the image of earlier today of him in his closet half naked rising to the front of her mind unbidden. Shaking her head for a moment to dismiss that thought, she tilts her head and smiles again. "Yeah.. I did like it the last time we really danced, Lucifer. I'd like that. One dance, at least."

"Lovely." Lucifer smiles, delighted about the idea of a dance with his Detective. Another flash of lightning lights up the sky as he steps closer to his partner, smirking a little and holding his arms out toward his sides a little, palms toward her. "You sure you wouldn't like to help me out of my damp shirt?" His tone is teasing, but he's also been intrigued by her recent behavior. For the moment he's not thinking of the future, or what may come in two hours, two days, or two weeks. He's all about the here and now, wondering what exactly his frustrating Detective desires.

Watching Lucifer approach, Chloe briefly catches her breath as he's back lit by the flash of lightning for a moment, and if she didn't know better, she would think he somehow did that on purpose. But no, Luicfer may have many abilities and many frustrating qualities, but she's 99% sure that controlling weather is not one of them. Mentally shrugging off the imagery, she looks at him for a moment and smirks. She's no stranger to getting her own back at the charming Devil, having fooled him several times during their time together. This is a little more serious perhaps because there is the possibility this time that something /may/ actually happen between them. The possibility just adds an extra spark though as she gives the Devil a flirty smile and steps closer. "Don't mind if I do." She says quietly before she reaches up and slowly starts to undo the buttons on his shirt, tilting her head to the side a little as she takes her time, tugging his shirt apart slightly as she goes.

"Mmm. Detective..." Lucifer murmurs in a suggestive, intrigued tone as he looks at Chloe, letting her do what she wishes. He's certainly interested to see if she's literally just helping him out of his shirt or if she has something else planned. Arching an eyebrow questioningly when Chloe reaches his belt where his shirt is tucked in, he can't help the small laugh that escapes him when she yanks his shirt out from where it's tucked in, only to finish the job.

Smirking a little at the response from Lucifer, Chloe steps back slightly after she finishes with his buttons, before she lifts one of his wrists and undoes the cuff of his shirt, moving to the other and finally stepping back to admire her handywork. He looks a bit disheveled in the best sort of way. Finally meeting his eyes, she purses her lips as he tries to hold back a grin, but it still becomes a small smile. "I think you can handle the rest from here." She finally says as she meets her partner's curious gaze.

"I suppose I can. Are you sure you don't want to finish the job, Detective?" Lucifer asks as he glances down at himself for a moment, then looks back at her. "Not like you to leave a job unfinished." He points out playfully, pushing just a little more to see what sort of response he might get.

As tempting as it might be for her to 'finish the job' as he put it, Chloe knows better than to allow herself to do that just now, not after his reaction earlier when she practically molested him in his closet. Still, two can play his game, and she takes a slight step closer to him, looking over the strip of flesh showing between the edges of his shirt, before she looks up into his eyes and leans up slightly toward him, like she's going to kiss him. "I'm sure, Lucifer. Go change your damn shirt." She says instead of kissing him, starting to pull back afterward with a small smirk.

This is not the first, nor will it likely be the last time he's fallen for his Detective's seductive teasing. Except now he actually has more of a reason to fall for it, given the events since he returned. "Not this time, Detective.." He puts his arm around her waist before she can escape, pulling her close against him, his free hand coming up to stroke her hair back behind her ear, hand resting alongside her neck afterward. "I like a bit of teasing as much as the next bloke, but you don't have to resist your desires any more.. At least when it comes to this." He says softly, watching her eyes for a moment before he bridges the gap between them to press a gentle kiss to her lips, much like the ones they shared before Charlotte died, and before he returned to Hell. Trying to show her that not everything has to be sparks and sex between them, he's perfectly content with just having her close to him, enjoying the gentler side of what could be between them.

A small blush creeps up Chloe's cheeks as she watches Lucifer, not knowing what she expected exactly, but it certainly wasn't the tenderness she sees in his eyes and the gentle – if a bit possessive – way he holds her. Letting her eyes slide closed when their lips meet, she lets out a small, contented sigh as she lifts her hands up to rest them on either side of his jaw, fingertips just barely sliding into his hair. Reluctantly, she breaks the kiss after a minute, looking into his dark eyes and smiling a little. "Ok." She agrees quietly with his previous statement, before she says, "Go change your shirt, Lucifer." She whispers, slowly dropping her hands and goes to step back slightly from him, smiling slightly when she is immediately released. Despite everything that she has seen, despite him being the Devil, one of the things she adores about him, is that he has never attempted to force anything, never made her feel trapped. Which is more than she can say for a lot of guys. Who knew the Devil would be a gentleman?

Lucifer smiles a little at the blonde in his arms, before he nods a little. "As you wish." He says quietly, feeling more relaxed than he has in a long time. He briefly glances Chloe over, before he moves away from her and up to his bedroom to find a new shirt for himself. At this rate, he's going to have quite a bit of cleaning to be done by the time he leaves.

Tilting her head for a moment, Chloe bites her lip with a smile as she admires the retreating form of Lucifer, before she shakes her head and looks at the glasses of wine for a moment not sure which one was hers. Not like she can look for lipstick stains since she would never wear lipstick that heavy. Shrugging and figuring that if she can kiss Lucifer, drinking after him can't be any worse, she chooses a glass and picks it up to take a drink, starting to wander around to look at the various items on his shelves. When some soft music starts playing, she tilts her head a little to listen, not familiar with the song but it's beautiful. She turns a little to see Lucifer coming back down into the room, wearing a dark blue shirt that looks very good on him, the sleeves rolled up, and overall even though it's still very fancy clothing, it makes him look more relaxed than she remembers seeing him. At least, when he's fully clothed.

Picking up the other wine glass without concern for whose it is, Lucifer takes a drink before he puts it back down again. It's not as if he can catch human diseases, even if his companion had any. Noticing that Chloe is giving him an unusual look which he might call amused, but not quite, he glances her over for a moment trying to interpret it before asking, "What is it, Detective?" As he turns more fully toward her.

"Nothing.." Chloe shakes her head a little and then smiles, walking over to put her glass down near his again. "I was just thinking, I can't remember if I've ever seen you looking so, sort of.. casual... I mean, while you were fully dressed at least." She explains in an amused tone as she looks at him, shrugging a little in a slightly dismissive way.

Glancing down at himself for a moment, Lucifer considers. "I suppose it might be." He agrees with a little nod before he holds out his hand to her. "May I have this dance, Detective?" He asks just as the music starts to switch to a new song.

"You may." Chloe smiles in a slightly amused way as she places her hand in his, following him over closer to the windows where there's more of an open space, smiling in memory as she steps up to him and curls her hand around his shoulder and taking a moment to appreciate how well they fit together.

Lucifer smiles as he shifts his hold on Chloe's hand and then slides his arm around her waist, his hand practically spanning her whole waist as he draws her close, before sliding it to rest on her opposite side. "Afraid there's no confetti this time, Detective." He says gently as he starts to dance with her slowly in the same manner as he did for the 'Prom'. "Perhaps if I'd had a little more time to plan.." He jokes lightly with a smile as he watches his Detective adoringly.

Tilting her head back a little to laugh, Chloe nods a little. "That's ok." She whispers as she goes back to watching him, smiling as she watches his eyes. "Must have been a pain to clean up anyway." She points out as she watches him. "And really, it wasn't the confetti that I really liked, Lucifer." She points out as she moves with him, finding it very easy to sort of forget about what her feet are doing.

"I should hope not." There's a slightly offended tone to his voice as Lucifer watches Chloe, before he chuckles a little, "I think we both know you do actually enjoy my company, Detective." He teases a little, pulling her slightly closer as he leans down a little to place his head beside hers, lightly pressing his cheek to the side of her head.

"Well, you're alright." Chloe teases as she puts her chin on his shoulder for a moment, before she sighs and closes her eyes, turning her head a little toward his neck, her nose brushing his skin lightly as she enjoys the moment.

Lucifer chuckles softly before he lowers his head a little more so his lips are closer to Chloe's ear. "Perhaps I should remind you just how 'alright' I am, perhaps reenact our little encounter at the crime scene this afternoon, hm?" He offers in a seductive tone. And while he most certainly would be up for that if that's what she wanted, mostly he's just testing her reactions. He's quite enjoying just dancing with Chloe for the moment. While he believes his Detective will do whatever she can to try and get him out of Hell, he doesn't have any hope that it will actually work, so whatever memories he can take back with him, he will hold onto like a drowning man.

Goosebumps rise along Chloe's arms and the back of her neck, and for a moment she licks her lips as she remembers that particular kiss. "Tempting. But I don't think that's what I want right now." She murmurs, before she pulls back from him a little, waiting until he lifts his head so she can look into his eyes. "I can certainly say the stories did get one thing right about the Devil." Her tone is slightly playful as she looks up at him, smirking a little for a moment. "The whole temptation thing." She explains as she watches Lucifer's slightly guarded expression. "You're very good at it. But then, you kinda invented it, huh?" She asks, laughing a little as she thinks about it.

Although he enjoys Chloe's reaction to his words, when he lifts his head to look into her eyes he's a little wary, not sure where what she had in mind. Lucifer smirks a little when she mentions temptation and he nods. "Yes, I suppose so. The Bible did get that bit a little wrong. I certainly wasn't disguised as a snake. Though you could say there was a snake involved." He waggles his eyebrows suggestively, resuming the gentle dancing as he watches Chloe, the song switching once again, interrupted here or there by rumbling thunder from the storm outside.

Rolling her eyes with a little shake of her head, Chloe tries not to smile and encourage him, but it's a struggle. "Ugh. I should have known better than to bring that up." She says with a bit of amusement, before she glances up at the ceiling as the lights flicker and fade for a moment. "Wow." She says, stopping their movement so she can glance around for a moment.

Lucifer looks around as well, frowning briefly when the lights flicker a second time. "Well, I can say I haven't seen that before." He glances down at Chloe for a moment. "I know I have some candles around here. You're not afraid of the dark, I hope?" He asks, wanting to prepare just in case the power goes out, which at the moment it's looking like it might.

"No, I'm not afraid of the dark." Chloe reassures as she looks at him, another sharp crack of thunder coming only a few seconds after two successive flashes of lightning, before the penthouse is plunged into darkness. She does briefly tighten her hold on Lucifer as she blinks a few times, the sudden change almost blinding her for a moment. "I hope you remember where those candles are." She chuckles as she looks around, some light coming from the huge windows, but it allows her to see just how far the blackout has gone, as well.

Glancing around the penthouse, Lucifer nods a little. "Well, I know where they used to be." He muses before he smirks at Chloe. "Would you like to see a trick, Detective?" He asks, loosening his hold on her as she moves away from him.

"Not exactly sure this is the time for tricks, Lucifer." Chloe points out, shaking her head for a moment. "But sure. What's the trick?" She asks, reluctantly releasing him completely, clasping her hands together in front of her.

Immediately feeling the loss of the Detective from his arms and yet knowing it's for the best, Lucifer takes a small step back and looks back and forth to make sure he won't destroy anything before he unfurls his wings. Folding them back so that they rest loosely behind him, he tilts his head slightly for a moment like he's trying to recall something, before his wings start to glow lightly, the white radiating a soft pool of light around them. "Morningstar isn't just an affectation. Unfortunately, this trick is all that's left of my former abilities." He says thoughtfully as he glances back at his wings briefly before he looks back at Chloe to see what she thinks.

The wings themselves are becoming less and less of a shock every time she sees them, but the speed with which they appear does still make her jump sometimes. She laughs a little as she watches him, staring at the wings for a moment and holding out her hand to look at the light. "Wow. It's beautiful, Lucifer..." She says honestly as she watches his wings, but then she pulls her phone out of her pocket and turns on the flashlight. "But this might be a little more practical." She points out almost apologetically. "Your penthouse wasn't exactly made for easy maneuvering with wings." She reminds him, smiling a little as she looks at him.

"Quite right, Detective." Feeling inordinately pleased that she isn't gawking over his wings, Lucifer allows the light to fade and hides his wings again. He's not exactly sure why he's got this sort of warmth inside over the Detective's predictably pragmatic nature in regard to his wings. Pulling out his own phone, he turns on the flashlight and smiles. "It's a good thing your child won't be at home tonight. Unless the power comes back on, I think it's best you stay here." He doesn't say this with any suggestiveness or sexual intent for once. "Driving home could be quite dangerous, and if you don't end up having power at home, well.. Better to have some company, hm?" He glances at Chloe over his shoulder as he walks over to his shelves, crouching down in front of one of the cabinets before he opens a few of the doors until he finds what he's looking for, taking out a few candles and some dishes before he balances everything together and stands carefully, using his foot to close the cabinet.

Following Lucifer over to the cabinet, Chloe nods a little. "Sounds very logical, Lucifer." She is still a little amused though that he is managing to get her to stay overnight. In truth she didn't really feel like driving home in the storm in the first place, and definitely not now with the blackout. Drivers in LA don't really do well without power. She reaches out to take a few of the candles off his pile so he doesn't drop anything. "Ummm.. one at the bar and a few on the coffee table?" She offers as she looks at him briefly before she goes to the bar, finding something to put the candle on before she puts the others on the coffee table, letting Lucifer deal with those. "Do you have a lighter?" She asks as she looks over at him.

Nodding slightly to his Detective, Lucifer steps over to the coffee table and arranges the candles on the few things he collected for that purpose from his cabinet. "Of course." He answers Chloe, pulling a Zippo out of his pocket and lighting the three candles at the coffee table, taking a second over to the bar. He lights both of them, setting one on each end before he turns to return to Chloe. "Well then.. Now what should we do? Bit early still to go to sleep..." He looks Chloe over for a moment. "Though I'm sure I could think of a few things to keep us occupied." He takes a deep breath as he grins a little lecherously at her.

"I'm sure you could. Pretty sure you're always thinking about those things." Chloe points out dryly as she looks at him, biting her lower lip for a moment as she looks around, then she smirks a little as she looks back at Lucifer, deciding to take a chance on something silly but also which could be slightly naughty. "Ever played Truth or Dare?" She asks with an eyebrow arch of her own.

Eyebrows going up in surprise with a slight turn of his head, Lucifer chuckles a little "I have. That sounds exciting." He says before he motions toward the couch, before he retrieves their wine glasses and the bottle, glancing at the glasses for a moment. "I've completely lost track of which one is whose, I'm afraid." He hands Chloe the glass which has more in it, assuming that he'd have drunk more out of his than she did out of hers.

"If I can kiss you, I can share a drink." Chloe reassures with a small grin before she takes the glass and sits down, tucking her legs up under her on the couch as she turns to face him, the candles adding a soft glow to everything that does make it seem more romantic, and to her, the way the light plays over Lucifer's skin makes him seem even sexier. This could be a dangerous game.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you all for reading and commenting! I've been away from this story for a little bit as I tried to figure out some of my others, but it turns out I already had a chapter done, so I decided I would post it for you all. I am hoping to complete this story arc in 10 chapters, 15 at most, but we'll see how that goes. Thank you again for reading!**

**Reviews/Comments welcome (and encouraged!)**

* * *

Sitting not far from his Detective, Lucifer turns to face her as well, resting one arm along the back of the couch. "It was your idea, Detective, so I'll let you choose. Would you rather ask the question first, or answer it?" He asks, taking a drink of his wine as he waits for an answer.

"I'll answer first because I have a feeling you have a lot more ideas." Chloe smirks as she looks at him. "And the answer is Truth." She adds so he doesn't have to actually ask the question because it would be rather silly to do that.

"Excellent." Apparently this response was either expected or Lucifer already had a question he urgently wanted answered. Either way, he doesn't really have to think about his question. "I'll even go easy on you this first time, Detective." He grins a little. "Have you ever had a naughty dream about me?" He asks, also possibly having a follow up question. They worked together for four years, got close to having a relationship at least three times during that time, obviously he had several fantasies about the Detective, but she's always been such an enigma to him.

Chloe blushes but laughs a little as well, hiding for a moment by taking a drink of her wine. "Umm.. Yes, actually." She shrugs a little, staring down into her glass for a moment. "Your turn. Truth or dare?" She asks as she looks up at him.

Clearly intrigued not only by her response, but by the answer, Lucifer grins. "Well, now I have a follow up question." He says playfully, then adds, "I think I'll give you time to think up something really good. So I'll go for Truth as well." He shifts and reaches for the wine bottle, pouring himself some more and then offering to Chloe.

"No, I shouldn't have any more. Especially with this game." Chloe giggles a little, putting aside her glass for the moment and getting comfortable. "Was Eve the first woman you had sex with?" She asks curiously, knowing that before her there were only his siblings, but you never know how Angels might perceive things.

"Detective! That is unexpected. Oh, I like it. This is going to be fun." Lucifer chuckles a little, putting the wine bottle aside and then his glass as well. "The answer to your question is yes, of course it was. The only other females available were my sisters. I'm not about to have sex with any of them, even if they were interested." He shudders, shaking his head for a moment in disgust. "So I did tempt Eve, but she tempted me just as much, in the end." He explains with a little shrug as he looks at her. "Truth or dare?" He asks with a challenging smirk.

"Truth, ask your follow up question, I already know what it's going to be." Chloe says as she gestures toward him, leaning back against the couch and blushing a little as she thinks of her potential answer to what she thinks will be his next question.

Considering asking something else to throw her off completely, Lucifer can't really help himself, because he has desperate curiosity. "Well, then tell me, Detective. What was your first naughty dream about me? Feel free to go into extensive detail." He leans over to pick up his wine again, settling back against the couch to take a drink.

Even though she knew it was coming, Chloe looks away with embarrassment. Rolling her eyes for a moment, and clearing her throat, she finally begins. "It was.. right after our first kiss, on the beach.. do you remember?" She asks as she looks over at him, waiting for his nod before she continues. "The dream starts in the elevator. I don't know how we got there, but.. it just.. It was kind of explosive. I just remembered looking at you, and then we were kissing. By the time we got out of the elevator, our jackets were on the floor, and you had somehow gotten my hair out of its bun. We were still kissing and you backed me up to the bar there and lifted me onto it. Which was very sexy, because I always knew you were strong, but in that situation..." She trails off, glancing at the Devil himself for a moment before she continues. "I managed to get your vest and half your shirt undone before I got so impatient that I ripped the rest off, I could hear the buttons bouncing. Your hands were everywhere it seemed like. Then you just.. grabbed me off the bar, still kissing, and I could only hold on with my legs and arms.. We ended up on this couch.. about where I'm sitting... I was straddling your legs.." She explains as she motions toward the couch, taking a deep breath and blushing a little as she remembers the rest of the dream.

"I would love a demonstration of that, Detective." Lucifer fairly purrs as he looks at her. Sure, it's more tame than he might have expected, but he has a feeling it was only the first dream, and the way she tells it, it's very easy for him to pick up what affected her, and what she's more dismissive of. "I do hope there's more.." He adds with a little smile.

Laughing a little at Lucifer, Chloe shakes her head a little. "Maybe one day we'll end up recreating the whole thing, but not tonight." She says with a bit of amusement. "Anyway, it gets a little odd near theend.. We were here on the couch, kissing, and you stopped to look up at me. You asked me if I was sure. Which was incredibly sweet, and honestly just made me want you more. So I just kissed you again, and we were kissing and touching, and you were doing some unspeakable things to my neck and my collar, when I felt something odd.. and so I sat back, and.." She trails off and smiles sheepishly. "You had two red Devil horns, coming out of your forehead here.." She leans forward and touches his forehead where they were. "You called them your Love Handles.. So I grabbed on and pushed you back to kiss you, and then.. I woke up." She explains with a little shrug, avoiding his gaze as she reaches out to pick up her wine glass and take a big drink.

"Well, well.. Not exactly what I was expecting, but that certainly paints a picture, Detective.. I'm glad at least some part of what I've been telling you made it through, if only in your subconcious." Lucifer says with small chuckle. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to give me a demonstration?" He asks a little hopefully as he watches her.

"No, I'm fine." Chloe reassures as she looks at him, licking her lips and swallowing a little before she quickly asks. "Your turn.. Truth or Dare?" She asks as she watches him.

Considering his options for a moment, Lucifer smiles a little. "Well, it's only fair I suppose, tit for tat, Detective. Truth. Do your worst." He smirks a little as he puts his wine glass back on the coffee table before he settles back facing her, putting his arm along the back of the couch, fingertips a few inches short of touching her.

There are so many questions that roll around in her mind but it's not as if Lucifer would lie to hr if she asked him some things later, so she saves the more mundane ones for another time, a different conversation. Coming up with one, she grins a little. "Do you prefer to be the seducer, or the one being seduced?" She asks, finishing her wine and setting her glass aside before she gets comfortable on the couch again.

"Ohhh.. excellent question, Detective. Very appropriate." Lucifer praises, considering the options. "Most of the time I am the seducer, but I have to admit, thinking of you asserting yourself, of seducing me, or taking control like that.. Well, that is one of the sexiest things I think I've ever pictured. I can only imagine how big of a turn on it would be if it happened in real life." He admits, shifting a little to get comfortable. "This is turning more into a game of Truth.. Care to change that, Detective? Truth or Dare?"

It might be the wine, or the intimate setting, or the candlelight, or just being with Lucifer again, but it's making her feel a little bolder. "Dare." She says, tilting her chin up a little in defiance as she tries to think of what sort of sexual thing he's going to have her do.

Rather surprised that she took the bait, Lucifer smirks a little. He wonders if his first dare will be better or worse than what she's clearly picturing. "I dare you.." He pauses for dramatic effect. "To demonstrate the last bit of that dream. On me." He crooks his finger at her with a smirk as he changes positions so that she can straddle his lap. "You know, we haven't discussed the punishment if one of us refuses." He notes, fairly sure that is a part of the game, because at some point someone is going to be unhappy or uncomfortable with the question or the dare.

That was actually more tame than what Chloe was picturing, "I guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when on of us refuses." She says with a slight smirk, getting up onto her knees to crawl over to Lucifer, placing her hands n his shoulders to balance herself as she moves to straddle his lap, as close to him as she can. "Obviously you don't have horns, so I can only do so much.." She muses, undoing another button or two on his shirt, licking her lips as she looks down at him. It's not as easy for her to jump right into the passion she had in the dream, but she slides one hand under the collar of his shirt to rest on his bare shoulder, and her other hand rests along his cheek as she leans in to kiss him.

Lucifer just watches, eyebrows going up as he glances down at his shirt but he was, from her account, shirtless in the fantasy, and she does enjoy getting him out of his shirt it seems. This isn't perhaps the sexiest beginning, but he slides his hands up her legs to her hips, before lifting one hand to her hair, gently pulling the elastic out of it as he eagerly returns the kiss, but this is about her fulfilling her fantasy, so he tries to just respond rather than take any initiative.

It's a little difficult for Chloe to just jump into the passion of the dream, so for a minute the kiss is somewhere between a passionate snog and the chaste kisses they've shared before. But as Lucifer responds, and also doesn't push, she starts to feel more comfortable. One hand slides from his cheek back into his hair, the other hand caressing his skin as she lets go and pushes him back more against the couch as the kiss becomes more passionate.

One of the sexiest things for Lucifer has always been fulfilling someone's desires, especially sexually. And when it comes to the Detective, it's doubly so. He allows himself to be pushed back, but then he presses back a bit against her, sitting up a bit more as he responds to the kiss, hands starting to stroke over her back, pushing her hair behind her shoulder again when it falls forward and then resting his hand on the back of her neck. When she starts to pull away and sit back, he sits up more to try to continue the snogging before he gets a hold of himself and slowly allows her to pull away before he sits back slowly, sliding his hands down from her back to rest on her hips as he takes a few deep breaths.

It's a very difficult thing to stop once she's started when her body is demanding that she finish what her dream started. She told Lucifer before that she didn't want that to happen tonight and she's trying very hard to stick to that. "It was something like that." She says as she sits back, moving the hand that's under his shirt to rest in the center of his chest to keep a small bit of contact while her other hand tucks her hair back a little. "So..." She licks her lips. "Truth or Dare?" She asks, smirking a little as she watches him curiously.

Satisfied for the moment at Chloe's continued presence in his lap, and her obvious reluctance to be completely separated from him, Lucifer considers for a few moments. "Well, I can see why you enjoyed that particular dream, Detective." He notes with a small chuckle. "And you know I always tell the Truth, so perhaps now is the time to start making things interesting, hm? Dare. Do your worst." He challenges as he watches her, moving his hands up just a bit closer to her waist, thumbs rubbing back and forth a little.

It's very difficult to think of a dare for someone who has no shame whatsoever. She doubts she could think of anything that would embarrass him or make him uncomfortable. Which means she has to just think of a dare that will be difficult for him. "I dare you.." She starts to stall for a moment as she thinks. "To give me an entirely non-sexual back massage. While I'm shirtless." She finally says, figuring she'll benefit from it and after that snog, it might be hard for him.

"Well, well, you can be cruel, can't you?" Lucifer asks with a small chuckle, knowing that all he'll want to do is touch and kiss her bare back, but he straightens his face and then nods a little. "I accept. Up you go." He motions for her to get up and takes her hands to help her balance as she gets up. "Since we've no lights, lets do this on the floor, hm?" He gets up after she does and grabs some of his throw pillows to lay them on the floor, covering them with a blanket that was over one end of the couch.. "Let me just get a towel and if the massage oil is still where I left it. You can lay down while I do, if you'd rather I not watch you take off your shirt." He leers at her a little, before he turns to head toward the bathroom.

Feeling a bit bold, Chloe helps arrange the little bed and waits for him to come back before she slowly removes her shirt, leaving her in a somewhat modest, definitely non-sexy bra. She blushes slightly. "Nothing you haven't seen before, right?" She points out with a small smile before she lays down on the pillows, resting her head on her folded arms.

Stopping in his tracks to watch Chloe remove her shirt, Lucifer stares for a moment as he looks her over. "Mnf. You're not fighting fair, Chloe." He says as he watches her, carefully moving the coffee table a bit so it's out of his way before he kneels down next to her. "Would you like me to work around this, or shall I undo it?" He asks as he slips a finger under her bra strap and gives it a tiny tug.

"You can undo it. And I never said I would fight fair." Chloe decides after a brief debate with herself. "You have to do it back up when you're finished, though." She adds in a firm tone, since to her that's a given, but she's never quite sure when it comes to Lucifer.

"Of course. This is, as you put it, entirely non-sexual and for your benefit, Detective." Lucifer points out, deftly but gently undoing the clasp and laying the halves off to the side, carefully moving the shoulder straps to the side as much as he can. "I hope you like Lilac. I thought it would suit you better than the others I have." He tries to keep his voice light even as he admires the expanse of skin in front of him. This is supposed to be a platonic massage though, so he tries to push it aside, pouring a little oil into his palm so it will warm up a little, before he spreads it over his hands and first just strokes his hands over her skin, spreading the oil a bit and then starts his massage at her shoulders. It is probably one of the most difficult things he's done in a long time, to stay detached, especially when she makes some rather obscene sounds when he works out a particularly large knot.

"I can see why you thought of this dare, Detective. Your back is a bloody minefield." Lucifer points out, shaking his head a little as he finally makes It to her waist, having been careful around mid-chest where her breasts are, so he wouldn't end up touching any side-boob. He's managed so far to make it a professional quality massage without any attempt at anything sexual. Being in the home stretch now makes him feel a little better as he focuses on her lower back.

"Mm." Chloe grunts in response before she sighs a little. "Never been big on massages. Believe it or not, I don't like massage parlors. I don't trust them and I don't like strangers touching me." She mumbles in explanation, completely relaxed under Lucifer's very talented hands. A small sigh is given when she realizes he's finished because he just as deftly reconnects her bra and makes sure it and the shoulder straps are settled comfortably.

Wiping his hands on the towel he brought with him and swiping off a bit of excess from Chloe's back that he sees here or there, Lucifer stands and smiles. "There you are, Detective. Think about whether you'd like Truth or Dare as I wash off my hands and you put your shirt back on." He's feeling quit good about himself and he knows what he wants to dare Chloe if she takes that route, washing his hands before he returns,g lad to see that Chloe does have her shirt back on and she's sitting on the couch when he returns. He stops briefly at the bar to grab her a bottle of water, handing it off before he cleans up the cushions and pours the rest of he wine into his glass to take a drink. "Well, then.. what is your decision?" He asks as he reaches out to brush her hair behind her ear and back over her shoulder slowly.

Still feeling pretty relaxed from the massage, Chloe takes a drink of the water he gave her before replying. "Dare." She says with a little smile as she watches him. "Might as well keep it interesting." She says with a little smirk.

With an absolutely wicked grin, Lucifer chuckles a little. "I was hoping you'd say that." Slowly, he puts his wine aside and then stands up, spreading his arms slightly to the side. "I dare you to undress me. Just down to the boxers if you please, don't want to give you too much of a shock." He teases with a wink as he watches her, before he tries to school his expressing to something a little less smug and amused.

A little surprised because it's both so mundane and also something that will be harder than it has any right to be, for her, Chloe nods and slowly stands up after placing her bottle on the table. "And here I thought you were more of a commando type." She say as she takes one of his hands in hers, lifting it so she can get to his cuff, taking her time and undoing them before she puts his hand down and moves to the other.

"Quite right, Detective. Maybe someday I'll show you the advantages to that." Lucifer purrs as he leans toward her a little, then straightens again. "Special exception just for you, darling. Like I said, didn't want to give you too much of a shock." He teases as he moves however she needs him to.

"I have seen all of you before, Lucifer. And trust me, I remember you're not all hype." Chloe reassures as she reaches around him to pull the back of his shirt out of his trousers, then does the same to the front before she reaches up to slowly start undoing the buttons, taking her time and enjoying the view. He said undress, didn't say she couldn't take her time and enjoy it. Then again, knowing Lucifer, his aim wasn't so much to embarrass her or make her uncomfortable as it is to merely tempt her.

"Perhaps I should have chosen something different. You seem to be enjoying this far too much, Detective." Lucifer tilts his head to the side a little as he looks down at her, briefly checking her progress on his buttons.

Finishing with the buttons, Chloe finally looks back up at him and she smiles. "Maybe." She agrees as she looks at him. "I'm only able to enjoy it because I know you, though." She points out as she slips her hands inside his shirt, sliding them over his shoulders to push the shirt off before she moves around behind him to start pulling it off. "Despite any teasing, or inappropriate comments.. You would never force anyone into anything. You're all about temptation and exploring desires. I'm pretty sure you would let me do just about anything, if I enjoyed myself enough." She muses, getting his shirt off and tossing it aside before she looks up at his back. "Your scars.. they're gone.." She says softly as she touches his back slowly. "Wait, so.. if you can hide your wings away, and there's no evidence of them being here.. how come it left a scar when they were cut off?" She asks in confusion as she presses into his back a little around where the scars were to see if she can feel any difference in bone or musculature.

"Quite right, Detective. There are few things more attractive than someone fulfilling their desires." Lucifer smirks as he glances over his shoulder at Chloe, reaching his arms back a little so she can remove his shirt without much trouble. "The easiest answer to your question is metaphysics and magic. It would be very hard to explain it in a way that you could understand. Not because you're not clever, but just because you're human, and honestly I would have a hard time fully explaining it. But when I hide them, as you say, they're still there, just in a slightly different plane of existence. When Maze cut them off the first time, they were attached to my back in reality. So they left very real scars. Of course, those went away when I got my wing back because they essentially replaced the spot where my old ones were." He tries to explain as he glances back at her again.

"I guess that makes sense.." Chloe says as she tries to wrap her head around that, touching the area of his previously scarred back for a moment before she trails her fingertips along his skin as she moves around in front of him again. "How come your wings don't tear through your clothes?" She asks curiously as she looks up at Lucifer and then lowers her eyes slowly over his chest to his belt, and she carefully starts to undo it. And though it really has no purpose other than to prolong things a little more, she pulls the belt from his trousers and tosses it in the same direction as his pants.

Chuckling a little as he watches his Detective, Lucifer finds her curiosity intriguing and he's more than willing to answer any questions she has. "It's not as if they just grow out of my back when I bring them out. They're coming out of a sort of dimensional space, so they don't really interact with fabric. It's a bit odd and hard to describe, but I imagine if you looked at them, they would appear to almost have melded together with my shirt or jacket or whatever." He explains a little distractedly before he smirks at her. "Want to empty my pockets first as well?" he asks teasingly, thinking she's stalling.

"Don't mind if I do." Chloe responds, smirking as she watches him, mostly to be a bit cheeky. Leaning into him a little, she slides her hand into one of his front pockets, pressing into his leg more than is strictly necessary as she searches for anything, before she leans to the other side to repeat the same process, placing his keys and lighter on the table before sh returns to stand in front of Lucifer, pressing close to him again as she slides her hands into his back pockets.

Laughing a little, even if the sudden boldness of his Detective is confusing, Lucifer lets her have her way with him. "Detective.. you're rather bold tonight. Not that I'm complaining, of course. I like this new side of you. It's a bit naughty, isn't it?" He asks as he watches her, but besides a little bit of slight gesturing, he keeps his hands at his sides and away from her, which is where he really wants them to be. Which would be around his suddenly very naughty Detective.

Removing her hands from Lucifer's butt where she was checking his pockets – no, really, she was! - Chloe shrugs a little before she starts to work on his trousers, which takes her a touch longer just due to the fact that they are dress pants that have two clasps on them. "Maybe a little bit of wine.. Maybe a little bit because of the storm, the power outage.. And then there's the fact that you could go back to Hell tomorrow." She points out as she looks at him, finishing undoing his trousers before she pushes them down over his hips, only just now noticing he removed his shoes and socks at some point, which means he is just down to his black silk boxers.

"Yes, the candles do create a bit of intimacy, don't they?" Lucifer muses, before he steps carefully out of his trousers and kicks them aside, and he places his hands on Chloe's waist. "Hmm.. would you like to continue our game, Detective, or have you had enough?" He asks with a little smirk. "Who knows what dare I might come up with next." He points out, chuckling lightly again as he looks her over. Truth be told he's not as interested in the game as he was before, he's much more interested in getting his Detective back to snogging.

Chloe looks up at Lucifer for a moment, considering the question carefully before she shrugs. "I think you might be too distracting at this point." She teases, before she adds, "Besides, you said I could always ask you any question, and you always tell the truth.. Plus, it's less fun when I know you have no shame about anything." She grins as she rests his hands on the outsides of his shoulders, "Should we just go to bed, then?" She shakes her head, and before he can light up too much, she quickly adds, "For sleeping."

"There is one thing I can think of that would be a little more interesting at least." Lucifer muses as he looks at her for a moment, "And it takes much less energy than what you're thinking. I'm shocked, Detective." He teases as he sees her cheeks turn slightly pink under the candle light. "Trust me, Chloe." He says as he looks into her eyes, and then slowly steps back from her, taking both of her hands in his and twining their fingers together before he turns them around toward the couch. Slowly, he sits back down, still holding onto her hands and he pointedly looks down at his lap. "You have my word, for once, I am not after sex. Well, not tonight, anyway." He flirts a little as he looks at her, leaning back to look at her questioningly, to see if she will trust him.

Tilting her head a little to on side, Chloe considers the man before her, who looks what she can only describe as adorably sexy, at the moment, "I do trust you, Lucifer." She reassures, stepping forward and using their joined hands to balance herself as she straddles his legs again and gets comfortable, watching him curiously.

Lucifer makes sure she doesn't unbalance herself with a tight hold on her hands, and after she's settled, he brings her hands up, depositing them around his neck before he reaches behind her to gather her hair up and pull it over one of her shoulders. "Stunning." He murmurs in awe as he watches her, cupping her cheek with one hand while the other moves to rest at the back of her waist. For a moment he just watches her, before he gently pulls her in for another soft kiss.

With the candles flickering, the sounds of rain and Lucifer's velvety compliments, Chloe feels a little bit like she's in a dream. As she returns the kiss, she leans into Lucifer, curling one hand around the back of his neck while the other rests along his jaw for a moment before falling to his chest an sliding back up over his bare skin to his broad shoulders.

Explosive passion certainly has its time and place, and perhaps should be expected for the prolonged tension between them, but Father Kinley was correct about one thing: Lucifer does make adjustments. Not for any sinister or selfish purpose, but because he does care about what Chloe thinks. He doesn't mind annoying or frustrating her, but there is a difference between that and true displeasure. And the last thing he wants is to genuinely upset Chloe. So he has made adjustments over the years, to his behavior, consciously and unconsciously. However, like with their first kiss, and despite the time crunch they may be under, Lucifer knows that this relationship is one which should be taken more slowly. It's one reason that the kiss remains slow and sensual, a proper snog that is more about teasing and testing, exploration of what the other enjoys. Sliding one of his hands up her back, the Devil pulls his love closer, as the other slides under the hem of her shirt just to rest his hand against her bare skin, wanting that little extra connection.

Although she's not sure how long the make out session lasts, eventually Chloe does start to pull away from him, weaning herself off with shorter kisses until she finally moves back a little to look into his eyes. "I definitely believe you now.." She whispers in a slightly breathless tone, scratching her nails along the back of his neck lightly.

"Oh? And what did you doubt me on this time, Detective?" Lucifer asks, his voice just as soft, if a little bit distracted as he watches Chloe's lips for a moment before his dark eyes return to hers.

A slow grin spreads across Chloe's face as she watches her friend, partner, and possible future lover. "I think you are going to be addictive." She leans forward and kisses him softly again, nipping at his lower lip before she sits back a little. "One more reason for you to fight to stay, Lucifer. It's really not fair to get someone so addicted and expect them to quit cold turkey." She points out with a smirk.

"Mnf. That would be rather rude of me, wouldn't it?" Lucifer whispers as he pushes her hair back from her face. He kisses her again, a little more deeply this time as he pulls her a little closer to him, before he sighs as he breaks it off. "It is getting late... As much as I hate to suggest it, perhaps we should retire." He offers quietly, then adds, "And before you question it, I'm sure we can share a bed like reasonable adults. Unless you don't think you can keep your hands off me." he teases with a little smirk.

"Very rude." Chloe agrees, grinning a little as she considers him, sighing before realizing that yes, she is getting tired. "Alright... I'm going to go raid your close. You can clean up here." She offers, kissing him once more which lasts a little longer than she intended it to, before she stands up, admiring him in his half-naked glory, before she pulls out her cellphone for some light and makes her way to Lucifer's closet.

"That was surprisingly easy." Lucifer mutters as he watches Chloe go, getting up and straightening the area around the couch before he blows out the candles, leaving one of the bar candles lit which he carries into the bedroom and sets on the end table. As he waits for his Detective to reappear, he pulls down the covers to the bed. Turning at the sound of bare feet on the tile floor, he can't help but chuckle a little since Chloe has chosen a dark red shirt of his. "Detective.. you temptress. You know red is my favorite color." he says playfully, holding his hand out to her.

"I know. Though you don't wear a lot of it." Chloe points out, stepping closer and taking his hand, his shirt large enough on her smaller frame that she's modestly covered. She takes his hand as she moves closer. "You know, I bet you would look really good in some more casual clothes." She muses before she slips into the bed and moves over far enough for him to get in as well before she settles down to get comfortable.

"I am quite sure that is the wine talking." Lucifer says as he places his cellphone beside his and Chloe's cellphones beside the bed and then slips beneath the covers. Blowing out the candle plunges the room into darkness except from whatever ambient light filters through his curtains. It's just enough to see by, even if it's still fairly dark. Settling back down on his back, he turns his head a little toward her. "Goodnight, Detective." He says quietly as he watches her, being able to see better in the dark than most.

Turning on her side toward Lucifer, Chloe reaches out and places her hand on his arm for a moment, giving it a small squeeze. "Goodnight, Lucifer." She whispers, then grins a little in the darkness. "I'll try not to hog the bed this time." She teases a little before she pulls her hand back, settling down into a comfortable position. Not that it's very difficult. His bed is super comfortable, but then again, when you have as much money as Lucifer, why not?


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you all for reading, and reviewing! The number of you following this fic always surprises me. This chapter and next might be a little shorter, but that's just how it worked out. I hope you enjoy!**

**Reviews/comments welcome (and encouraged)!**

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Sometime during the night the power is restored, but the returning lights don't seem to bother either occupant of the bed. However, Lucifer gets a slightly rude awakening in the form of a wet tongue across his cheek. He jerks awake in surprise, blinking a few times as he lifts a hand to wipe his cheek. "Marta?" He asks groggily as he looks at his very pleased looking Hellhound. Now, they are smart, but there is no way she should have been able to get into his penthouse by herself. A brief glance around reveals Maze, which is no doubt how Marta managed to get into the Penthouse. "Good morning, Maze." He mumbles, trying to sit up only to realize that he's trapped. His dear Detective might not have hogged the bed last night, but instead she turned into some sort of octopus it seems. She's halfway on top of his chest with one arm around his torso, one of her legs wrapped around one of his, and using him as a pillow. He can't help but smirk in amusement a he looks down at her. "Be with you in a moment, Maze." He says softly before he points them both toward the main room. Marta at least gets the clue, turning and trotting out to sniff around at things.

"About time." Maze motions to the two of them before she smirks and walks out, scratching Marta's head a she goes to get herself a drink.

"Bad pillow. Not s'posed to move." Chloe mumbles sleepily as she turns her head slightly into his chest and nuzzles against his skin for a moment, apparently only half awake and not willing to return to the land of consciousness yet.

Somewhat delighted, confused, but mostly highly amused, Lucifer chuckles a little. "If you want a pillow that doesn't move, perhaps you should find a different one." He points out as he looks down at her. "I'm afraid I have to get up, darling." He says as he reaches to grasp her wrist and start to unwrap it from around himself gently.

Briefly resisting, Chloe groans and finally rolls off of him onto her back. "Come back when you have coffee." She says before she rolls over away from him the other way, hiding her face into the pillow and drifting off to sleep.

The drunken night wasn't just a fluke, then. Chloe is not a morning person. Lucifer chuckles a little as he watches her, rolling onto his side and pulling back the collar of his shirt before he leans in and places a soft kiss on her neck. "As you wish, Detective." He mumbles as he rests a hand on her back for a moment and then slowly moves away to get up, finding one of his robes to slide it on before he walks out into the main area, detouring to the kitchen to start some coffee which is gratefully still there, before he looks at Maze and Marta, pouring himself a drink. "Did Marta find something, then?" He asks as he looks at his demon, feeling a little tense. He really isn't ready to return to Hell after just one day.

"Beats me. Communicating with them is your thing, not mine." Maze says as she glances over at the animal who is patiently waiting for her master's attention. "I hope you know what you're doing with Chloe." She adds after a moment, worried about both her friends.

Downing his drink, Lucifer looks over at Maze. "Whatever you think happened, probably didn't, Maze." He notes as he looks at her, then adds, "I tried to tell her to move on after I returned to Hell. She wasn't having it. Stubborn as ever, she's going to try and get me out of Hell for good." He says with a small chuckle, trying not to have too much hope about that, but he can't help himself. "Alright, girl.. what have you got?" He asks as he moves over and crouches down in front of the Hellhound, giving her a bit of attention for a moment before he looks more intently at her. "Did you find our wayward soul?" He says, waiting briefly before he sighs a little. "You have, hm? But he's guarded. And I told you not to harm humans. Very good,." He says with a small nod not sure if he's relieved or frustrated that the soul was located so quickly. The Detective will be glad he's not out there able to kill anyone else, at least.

"That was fast. Those two were always the best trackers." Maze points out in a solemn tone, since she knows what it means for Lucifer if he catches the soul he's looking for already. "I guess Bonnie probably stayed to keep an eye on him, huh?" She asks as she sips her own drink.

"Yes. That's how they were trained. You know that, Maze." Lucifer points out as he looks over at her,s sighing a little. "Good girl, Marta. You did exactly what I asked." He smiles a little, petting the dog so she doesn't think he's in any way upset with her performance. "Chloe will be pleased. The sooner I get him, the less people he will have a chance to kill." He points out as he stands, adjusting his robe before he pours himself another drink, avoiding eye contact with his former demon.

"She might be pleased that there's no more killings, but I don't think she'll like what it means." Maze points out, shaking her head for a few moments. "But, if anyone can get your ass back, it's Decker. She's fierce." She glances past Lucifer toward the bedroom and the still mostly unconscious Chloe. "I'll see you when I see you. Let me know if you need any help." She finishes her drink before heading to the elevator, not wanting to do any weird goodbye's or anything like that, despite what she said about him not saying goodbye last time.

"Yes. Of course, Maze." Lucifer reassures, watching her go before he cleans up his clothes from last night, at least getting some trousers on before he makes a cup of coffee for Chloe. "Detective." He says after he sits on the edge of the bed, reaching over and putting his hand on her back to give her a little shake. "I've brought you coffee this time." He offers, holding the mug in his free hand.

Turning to squint slightly at him, Chloe finally sits up carefully, running a hand through her hair. "Morning." She says with a small smile, taking the mug from him to take a careful drink, blinking a few times as she glances around. "Did I hear you talking to someone?" She asks as she looks over at hi for a moment, not having truly went back into a deep sleep once she rolled over.

"Yes, it was Maze. She brought Marta up." Lucifer explains with a sad smile. "Apparently they've found Mr. Dalton." He explains in a quiet tone as he watches her, not wanting to ruin the morning already, but knowing she would want to know as soon as possible rather than him trying to keep it from her.

Taking in his half-dressed state for a moment, Chloe nods slowly and takes another drink of her coffee. "So.. so is that it?" She asks as she looks at Lucifer, biting her lip a little. "You'll go get him and then, what? Return him to Hell, and you'll be gone, again?" She asks in a slightly trembling tone, though she manages to keep her face neutral.

Reaching out to brush the backs of his fingers against Chloe's cheek gently, Lucifer sighs a little. "I suppose I could bring him back here, leave Marta and Bonnie to look after him for a little while. But no more than an hour or two. Perhaps I shouldn't have brought Marta and Bonnie up, but with Mr. Dalton killing again, I thought it best I capture him as soon as possible. I just didn't realize it would be quite so soon." He admits as he watches Chloe, memorizing her face, her slightly messy hair from sleep, and he way his shirt sits slightly askew on her.

"No, I mean.. It.. it's good that you caught him before he could hurt anyone else." Chloe allows with a small nod as she looks at him, biting her lip for a moment. "I need to get ready for work and you.. have a sociopath to catch." She nods a little before she gets up, slipping past him and snatching up her phone before she heads toward the bathroom.

Sighing a little, Lucifer stares after Chloe, clearly baffled. He has no idea what to make of her sometimes. Just when he thinks he's gotten her figured out, even a little, she flips that completely on him, confusing him all over again. Shaking his head for a moment, he slowly gets up and heads into his closet, selecting the rest of his outfit carefully because he may be in it a very long time, ending up with a combination that once got him a rather lingering look from Chloe, something that makes him smile as he stands in front of his full-length mirror, tugging his collar into place, and then fiddling with his cuffs. Finally satisfied, he nods a little and meets his reflections eyes. "Oh, don't look at me like that. It has to be this way, to protect the Detective." He doesn't care about anything as much as he does that, nodding before he exits and goes to get himself a drink. He's going to need one.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the late posting, 4th of July has thrown off my sense of time this week. Thank you to everyone who's reading and reviewing! I do really like hearing what you guys think about the story. Another bit of a short chapter, but a fun one. ;)**

**Pretty self explanatory, but I'll leave this here just in case:**

**M = Maze**

**C = Chloe**

**A = Amendadiel**

**L = Linda**

**Thank you everyone for reading, and I hope you have a great weekend!**

**Reviews/comments welcome (and encouraged)!**

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While she does have to get ready, Chloe is also using it as an area to hide for a few minutes. She unlocks her phone and starts up a group text of her, Amenadiel, Linda and Maze.

_Chloe: Guys. Lucifer's Hellhounds found the dad guy, soul, whatever. In a few hours he'll have to return to Hell. We cannot leave him there. You know he deserves to be here, with his friends and family. What can we do?_

_M: Need someone to take his place. Only a Celestial can rule Hell._

_A: We must find a solution ourselves. Our Father will not help._

_L: Damn straight we're going to help. We all miss him. And Chloe is right. He doesn't belong in Hell anymore. Amenadiel, any of your siblings have a.. darker nature? And is there a way to communicate from Hell?_

_A: Prayer, maybe. Otherwise, not to my knowledge._

_C: Ok. So Amenadiel, go back to Heaven, poke around. Does time move differently there, like in Hell, or is it more aligned with Earth?_

_A: It's similar, but not as extreme in Heaven. Closer to on day on Earth is two in Heaven._

_L: Can Demons pray to Angels?_

_M: No. We don't have souls, remember?_

_L: Crap. So even if she goes back with Lucifer, it won't be helpful. And might make him suspicious._

_M: Yeah, we already had that discussion. He wouldn't take me back unless I threw the mother of all hissyfits. I mean, I could do it. Don't really want to though._

_C: We'll have to leave Lucifer in the dark, then. All he needs to know is we're not giving up. Though, no lying. We'll take a page from his book. Omit, don't lie._

_M: Works for me._

_A: I'll take Charlie with me to visit some of my our siblings. Might distract the more prickly ones. I have a few ideas._

_L: Tell Lucifer to stop by my office before he leaves. Not only would I like to see him, but I think I can distract him for a little while._

_C: Ok. We have a plan. Linda, you should text or call Lucifer yourself, he'll ask me why you didn't, if I try and pass on the messag. Maze, maybe you should help Lucifer retrieve Dalton. He said that was kind of your thing. Even with the Hellhounds, might not hurt. I don't want him killing any more people._

_M: Sounds like fun. I'm still in Lux. I'll snag him when you come down._

_L: Ok, we need to talk about the hellhounds thing at some point. And Chloe – you're at the Penthouse this early? We definitely need to talk._

_C: Later. I need to get ready. Text if anything comes up._

Chloe puts away her phone and takes a deep breath before she puts her hair up and quickly uses Lucifer's shower before she dresses in her clothes from the night before and comes out into the main area. "I need to head home and change..." She says as she looks over at where Lucifer is, smiling softly as she admires him for a moment before she walks over toward him.

"I still wonder what takes you so very long to get ready in the morning, Detective. Or did you have some more naughty dreams last night, hm?" He asks playfully, smirking as he takes a drink out of his glass as he watches her approach him, and he takes a moment to look her over. What he doesn't expect is for her to pull him in for a passionate kiss. He's surprised but responds eagerly, blindly placing his glass on the bar before grasping her hips to pull her closer to him. Deciding to give her a little dose of reality to supplement her dreams, he turns them lifts her up onto the bar which briefly breaks the kiss. He quickly reclaims her lips though as he steps up between her legs, sliding on hand into her hair. There is definitely still a murderous sociopath out there to catch, but if he has to leave all this behind again, he doesn't mind taking a little while for something that has to tide him over for an eternity.

The kiss was meant to tempt and distract certainly, but for some reason, Chloe didn't expect the reaction she got. Like tossing a match into gasoline, and she wonders just how much he was holding back last night. She gasps a little as she's easily lifted onto the bar, and hooks her ankles around his legs as she gets a little lost in the kiss. Finally regaining her senses, she pulls back from him with a small gasp. "Lucifer.." She murmurs softly when he starts to kiss along her jaw, closing her eyes for a moment before she leans back further away from him, putting her hands against his cheeks gently. "You have a soul to catch, and I have work.." She points out, licking her lips a little as she looks into his eyes. "Promise me you won't leave without saying goodbye." She murmurs as she leans toward him a little more.

Even though he's highly distracted by his Detective, Lucifer stops when she leans away from him, his hands resting on her legs as he looks into her eyes. It takes a brief moment for him to focus, and then he nods slowly. "Of course, Detective." He reassures, one hand sliding up to rest on the back of her waist, the other lifting to rest on the back of her neck. "Bloody Hell, Chloe.." He murmurs as he leans a little closer to her. "If you manage to get me out of Hell, the first weekend your spawn is away, I am going to make your every naughty little dream come true." He purrs before giving her another passionate kiss.

Chloe groans softly through the kiss as she responds to it, sliding one hand into his hair before she finally pulls away, taking a deep breath. "I might just take you up on that, but you have to come back, first." She points out with a little amusement, before she puts her hands on his shoulders, giving him a little push so she can get down from the bar.

Moving back away from her a little, Lucifer keep his hands on Chloe's waist to help her down off the bar before he releases her and straightens his jacket, running a hand over his hair slowly. "I wish it were as easy as you make it sound, Detective." He says gently as he watches her, retrieving his drink to finish the last of it. "But you know me, I live in the moment." He smirks before he walks toward the elevator. "Come on, Marta. Lets go find Mr. Dalton." He says as he glances over toward where she was laying by the couch, looking bored. The dog immediately perks up though and trots over to stand beside her master.

For some reason, realizing the dog was there the entire time makes Chloe blush, hesitating before she walks over to the elevator, and in when the doors open. "So I guess.. text me when you have everything settled." She says as she looks over at Lucifer as he and his Hellhound step into the elevator with her.

Nodding a little and adjusting his cuffs for a moment, Lucifer glances over at his partner, seeming a little more tense and certainly less relaxed than a few moments ago. A day ago, it was much easier for him to think about returning to Hell. Leaving all this behind a second time, especially with his developing relationship with Chloe, will be much more difficult this time. It is, however, necessary to keep them safe. Putting them in danger because of his actions – especially selfish ones – has become unacceptable to him, the closer he became to them. As much as part of him might want to reject these ties, these feelings, he's not sure he would change anything about his previous time on Earth, despite the fact that they lead him back to Hell. Having been slightly distracted by his thoughts, the Devil turns to the woman next to him as it registers that she said something. "Yes. Of course, Detective. I will text you as soon as I secure Dalton." His tone is still a little distracted as he looks forward at the doors.

"Good." Chloe nods once, actually a little concerned since Lucifer is never this quiet. But since they do have their own plan and she has stuff to do, she doesn't comment. She steps out of the elevator first when the doors open, smiling as she glances at Lucifer. "I'll talk to you later." She says before she waves a bit at Maze. "Hey Maze." She says before she heads up and out of the club to head home and change in order to make it to work on time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry this is a bit late, I started writing on one of my other stories again and completely forgot! It's been a busy week over here. Thank you for your lovely reviews, I really enjoy hearing what you guys think. I hope you enjoy, we're getting closer to the end now! And have a lovely weekend!**

**Reviews/comments welcome (and encouraged)!**

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"Hey." Maze says to Chloe, watching her leave before she looks back over at Lucifer and Marta by his side. "You going to get this guy now? Which one was he?" She asks as she takes a drink from her glass, watching her friend for a moment.

"Ferdinand Dalton. He hasn't been in Hell all that long. Too clever by far. And your replacement is hardly that." Lucifer says with a small shake of his head, going to pour himself a drink before he glances over at where the Detective went, considering everything as he savors his drink for a moment.

"Yeah, I remember him. You're right, he's smart. Bit of a talker. Didn't feel guilty about what he did, but was still fun to torture." Maze says with a little smirk, then she asks, "I'm in between jobs, want me to come with you to secure him?" She offers as she looks at Lucifer. "One last hunt?" She asks with a smirk.

Looking over at the demon for a moment, Lucifer considers her offer and then he nods as he watches her. "You know what, I'd like that." He finishes his drink and puts the glass aside before straightening his jacket a little. "Just like old times, eh?" He asks, smiling as he looks down at Marta. "Don't worry, my darling. You'll get your pound of flesh, won't you?" He asks, slipping slightly toward 'baby talk' as he leans down to pet the Hellhound with both hands.

Maze just snorts a little as she watches him, "Come on, then. Stop spoiling her. You always were too soft on Marta and Bonnie." She scolds a little as she watches the Devil shower affection on the Hellhound. "I'll follow you on my bike." She says as she heads toward one of the exits that leads to an alley where she tends to park.

"I haven't seen her in ages, Marta. It's hardly spoiling. And she's done a good job, finding Mr. Dalton so quickly." Lucifer objects, before he straightens and nods. "I suppose I'll have to come with you, Maze. Since you and the Detective put my Corvette into storage. Unless you have another motorcycle hanging about." He says thoughtfully as he looks at her. He's never enjoyed them as much as Maze does, but he's capable of using them.

"Actually, I do. There's one in the garage. Keys are in it." Maze says as she thinks about it, shrugging. "It's a backup." She explains. "Meet you out front." She says as she turns and heads out.

Arching an eyebrow at Maze for a moment, Lucifer nods slowly. "Very well." he says before he looks down at Marta. "Lets go, then." he says before he goes down to the garage to retrieve the motorcycle, shaking his head for a moment before he pulls the helmet on and gets on the bike, glad his trousers have a bit of a stretch. "Lead the way, Marta." He says through the helmet as he starts the bike, familiarizing himself with it briefly before he starts off after Marta. Passing by Maze, he hears her start up and follow and soon they're both zipping in and out of traffic in pursuit of the Hellhound that none of the humans can see.

When Marta finally stops across the road from a rather rundown looking house, Bonnie appears from the alley to trot up and sit beside her companion. Lucifer parks the bike and gets off, removing the helmet and running a hand over his hair to smooth it back down before he tugs his jacket back into place and adjusts his collar. "Hello, Bonnie.. good girl, is he still inside?" He asks as he crouches down to shower some affection onto Bonnie. He waits for whatever indication he gets of confirmation before he nods and stands, looking over at Maze. "He should still be inside." He says, ignoring the buzzing of his phone in his pocket for the moment because even if it is the Detective, he has to finish this first, now that he's here.

Maze nods a little. "Alright. I'll go around back, make sure he doesn't rabbit." She offers as she looks over at Lucifer before she walks down the street to get around behind the house. Lucifer looks down at his hounds. "Stay, unless I call for you." He orders before he fidgets with his cuffs, something not sitting right with him as he crosses the street toward the house. If this man is so smart, he made it rather easy to be caught. Then again, he likely wasn't planning on Hellhounds being brought up to chase him down. Arrogant, really. No matter, Lucifer thinks, he will have Mr. Dalton in custody soon enough and then LA will be a little safer.

Stepping up onto the porch, Lucifer takes a moment to glance in the rather dirty looking windows, though he doesn't see any movement inside. With a little grin, he takes a slight step back from the door before he uses a well-placed kick to decimate the door.

The backlash is immediate. Lucifer has a split second to register the click of some sort of triggering device, before the house implodes, shattering windows all around it and sending Lucifer flying back halfway across the street. If he were human, he would most certainly be dead. If not from the fireball, then from the shockwave, or the impact with the ground.

Stunned for a moment, Lucifer sits up and coughs before he realizes. "Maze!" He shouts, getting to his feet. "Bonnie, Marta, find Maze!" He orders sharply to the Hellhounds, knowing they'll move faster than him, even as he starts to run around the building to try and find his demon. He finds both hounds trying to move pieces of wood off of Maze's still form.

"No. No, no, no.." Lucifer says with a shake of his head as he hurries over and quickly unburies her, feeling for a pulse. He hangs is head in relief when he feels one, shaking his head before he carefully lifts her up into his arms, carrying her bridal style back around the house toward where the bikes are, with Bonnie and Marta trailing behind, whining a little in distress.

An explosion like that doesn't go unnoticed, and soon there are sirens heading in their direction. Lucifer slowly lays Maze out on the grass across the street from the house, checking her pulse again and leaning over to listen to her breathing, sighing a little in relief when that seems all normal. Anything else will heal, as long as she doesn't have any internal injuries. Sitting back on his heels, he finally reaches into his pocket to see the missed call from the Detective. Not even bothering to check the voicemail, he dials back, coughing a little for a moment. "My apologies for not picking up, Detective. There's been a bit of a hitch in the recovery of Mr. Dalton." He sighs, voice a little hoarse because while he didn't get injured, he still got a face full of explosion, and his lungs haven't entirely cleared out the soot and such yet.

"Yeah, that's what I was calling about. There's another body. Wait, are you ok? Are those sirens in the background?" Chloe asks, her voice turning from frustrated and a little exasperated, to concerned in the space of a breath.

"I'm quite alright, Detective. Maze is unconscious, but I think she'll be alright. Those are indeed sirens. The house that my Hellhounds said Mr. Dalton was holed up in, well... It exploded rather spectacularly when I kicked down the door. It's a good thing you weren't around, Detective, or we might not be having this conversation." Lucifer admits honestly, looking down at Maze when she starts to come around. "Easy, Maze.." He says softly to the demon in front of him.

"Where are you? I'll call disbatch, tell them you were there because of a case, so they won't see you as suspects." Chloe is already getting up to go toward her car, determined to ride down there herself in order to see what's going on, and it would make sense of her to be there if Lucifer was there following up an official lead.

Looking around for a moment, Lucifer finds some street signs so he can give the address to Chloe. "See you soon, Detective." He says lightly before he hangs up the phone, somewhat shocked the thing still works and without a single crack. Looking down at Maze, he reaches out to help her up before he looks over at the house which is now nothing more than rubble and foundation. "Are you feeling ok? Nothing injured or broken?" He asks with concern of his former bartender.

Maze groans a little as she sits up, before she shakes her head a little. "No, I'm alright. I wasn't that close when it went off." she reassures, before she winces a little. "Just a little bruised and stiff, it'll work itself out."S he reassures as she looks at Lucifer, then over at the Hellhounds. "He fooled Bonnie and Marta. Smarter than I thought." She sighs rolling one of her shoulders slowly.

Looking over at his guilty looking hounds, Lucifer nods a little. "Indeed. Looks like I'll be here a while longer." He notes with a small smile, which is the only silver lining to this. "It seems that Mr. Dalton learned a few things whilst he was in Hell." He looks at Maze for a few moments. "The Detective is on her way, no doubt with a perfectly reasonable explanation for this." He motions back toward the building, before he pulls off his jacket, sighing as he looks at the state of it, before he looks at Maze. "You sure you feel alright?" He asks in concern as fire trucks, police cars, and a few EMT's show up.

Looking at the Devil by her side warily for a moment, Maze nods a little. "Yeah. I'm good." She sys with more of her normal snark, picking some debris out of her hair for a moment. "In the meantime, we have a bigger problem. If Dalton can fool Bonnie and Marta, he's gonna be tough to track down." she grins a little and nods. "I am so in." She decides after a moment with a small nod. "I'm gonna bring this guy down. Just like old times, huh?" She asks, punching Lucifer's arm lightly. Well, lightly for her.

And that hurts a lot more than it should have. Lucifer puts a hand against his arm for a moment. "Ow." He mutters, before he looks around. "The Detective is here. Of course. Always with the timing.." He mutters with a small shake of his head, looking over at Chloe's car where she had just pulled up. He waves a little to Chloe when he sees her looking around. "Over here, Detective!" He calls clearing his throat a little and shaking his head for a moment before he stands slowly.

Because they were behind the motorcycles, a few of the police startle slightly when they see him stand up, not having seen them there since they were more focused on the house and containing the growing crowd. Chloe holds up her hand toward them to keep them from drawing their weapons. "It's fine. He's with me, I got it." She reassures before she walks over quickly, looking at the motorcyles and shaking her head a she tries to picture Lucifer riding one of them. "Hey.. are you alright?" She asks as she puts her hand on Lucifer's arm before looking him over, and then looking over at Maze in concern.

Starting to stand up, Maze grabs Lucifer's arm in a secure grip when he offers his hand to her and she nods to him in thanks before she looks at Chloe. "All good, Chlo." She reassures as she brushes herself off. "Good thing you weren't around, or Lucifer would be paste. Place blew as soon as the front door opened." She says as she glances around for a few moments at the madness of the various emergency crews as they try to put out any fires, secure the scene, and figure out what happened. In that order, for the most part.

Gripping Maze's arm to help her up, Lucifer then turns his attention back to Chloe. "Yes. There was a click, and then everything disintegrated." He explains as he looks at Chloe. "I ended up halfway across the road here." He says as he points to the approximate point where he landed. "The bigger problem is that Dalton is smarter than we think. Looks like I might be around a bit longer than previous anticipated." He is both pleased with this, and a little disgruntled, though only because it means he failed in some way.

Nodding as she looks over at the crime scene, Chloe looks at Lucifer for a moment. "This is going to get complicated." She says, though she is a tiny bit pleased her partner will be around longer than a day. As wrong as that might be. "Ok.. and there's another body.. same MO. So this guy is definitely still out there killing." She says as she looks between them. "Lucifer, why don't you go get cleaned up, and I'll meet you at the crime scene." She glances over at the motorcycles for a minute. "Unless you'd rather I give you a ride?"

Not able to help himself, despite the situation, Lucifer chuckles as he looks Chloe over. "Why, Detective.. how bold of you, I thought you'd never ask." He says in a seductive tone, relenting when he sees her start to get a little annoyed, even if there is a spark of interest in her eyes. He nods a little, holding up his hand to placate her. "My apologies, I can't help myself sometimes. You just make it so bloody easy. But yes, I think I would rather get a lift with you. I'm sure I can hire a tow truck to come and get this." He says as he motions toward the motorcycle. "Or if one of your officers wants to take it for a spin, that would be fine, as long as they bring it back to Lux when they're finished with it." He offers as he looks at Chloe, sliding his hand back into his pockets.

Maze shakes her head a little. "Hey, if one of them breaks my bike, you're paying for it." She says in a firm tone as she looks at the man, before she sighs. "I need a drink."S he mutters before she moves over to her bike and gets on securing her helmet before she zips off down the street.

Nodding his consent to Maze, Lucifer watches her zip off before he picks up his jacket from the ground. "Well.. nearly a day and I've been through three or four suits. You're hell on my wardrobe, Detective." He teases lightly as he looks at her, walking toward her car.

"Well you know, if you didn't wear such ridiculously expensive suits all the time, it wouldn't be as big of a deal." Chloe reminds him with a shake of her head and a little bit of amusement. "Someday, I am going to get you into some normal clothes, just to see what you look like." She gets into her car and waits for him before she starts it up. "I bet you'd look just as good, maybe even better." She teases him a little with a slight smirk before she carefully pulls out of the area and heads back toward Lux, since this isn't technically her crime scene and she already told them she and Lucifer would make formal statements.

A small scoff comes from the Devil as he looks over at Chloe skeptically before he looks away and shakes his head. "I very much doubt it, Detective. Though I'd like to see how you might convince me.." He flirts as he looks her over for a moment, smiling smugly as he sits back in his seat and enjoys the familiar banter.

Shaking her head for a few moments, Chloe just smiles and tries to focus on her driving. "You'd be surprised. There might be something that you want someday, Lucifer. And I know how you like your deals." She points out as she glances over at him for a moment, smirking before she turns her attention back to the road to navigate back toward Lux.

"I always knew you were clever, but were you always this shrewd, Detective?" Lucifer asks, amused and impressed as he turns his head to look her over for a moment. "I look forward to negotiating with you." He gives a low chuckle before he looks straight ahead for a moment, then glances down at his clothes, brushing a little bit of dust off of his pants with a regretful sigh. "This was one of my favorite suits." He muses thoughtfully as he looks down at the ruined fabric.

Rolling her eyes a little but smiling nonetheless, Chloe stops at a light and looks over at Lucifer again. "You have plenty of others, and I'm sure that you can just buy another one." She points out as she waves a fluttering hand in his direction before heading forward again and turning down into the alley to park near Lux.

"It won't be the same, the man who made this suit is dead. And unfortunately he was a very good man, which means he's in the Silver City." Lucifer points out with a regretful sigh before getting out of the vehicle, looking around the alley for a moment as something taps at the corner of his mind, similar to the feeling of being watched, but more familiar.

"You ok?" Chloe asks as she gets out of the car and looks at Lucifer, his expression reminding her of some great bird of prey, looking around for its next meal, or trying to identify a sound.

Looking over at Chloe for a moment, Lucifer takes a quick breath before he nods. "Yes. Of course, Detective. Just..." He hesitates. "No. It's nothing." He briefly glances around before he turns his attention back to his Detective with a small smirk. "Going to come in with me? Just can't wait to catch another glimpse, hm? Want to catch the full show this time?" He asks playfully as he looks at her, starting to head toward the club entrance.

"Of course I'm coming in. It's the only way to keep you on task." Chloe points out, amused as she falls into step beside him. And for some reason, it's never occurred to her that he always matches his stride to her. She's never felt like he was outrunning her. If anything, he occasionally falls behind a little bit, even though he has the height advantage. And even that small bit of consideration makes her smile, stepping inside of Lux when Lucifer holds the door open for her. "So I pulled all the old files from Dalton, told the LT that I heard about when I was still a rookie, and this new case just rang some bells. Of course, I can't tell her I think it's the same guy, but copycats happen, you know?" She explains as she glances up at him. "We need to make this quick, too, because Ella's waiting for us at the crime scene. I told her I had to pick you up from another lead you were following, and that we'd meet her there." She explains, turning toward the elevators easily as she glances over at Lucifer, knowing this path very well by now.

"Very clever, Detective." Lucifer approves as he follows her into the club, glad the early hour keeps anyone from being there and seeing him like he is. When the elevator doors open, he waits for Chloe to enter first before following her and pressing the button for his penthouse before he considers it. "I will be as quick as I can." He reassures with a little smile as he watches her, running a hand through his hair and sighing a little as he gets a bit of tiny debris out of it. "Oh, if we had time for me to have a shower, that would be so much better." He mutters quietly as he looks at the doors in front of him.

For a moment, Chloe's eyes widen as she tries not to picture that and fails spectacularly. Clearing her throat a little, she takes a deep breath. "Yeah, well, learning to balance the supernatural with reality is a little interesting, to say the least." She points out with a little bit of amusement as she looks up at him, reaching out to pick a pebble or bit of drywall or something of the sort from the side of his hair, then brushing her fingers lightly over his hair in that spot before she drops her hand and smiles a little as she meets Lucifer's eyes.

When the elevator doors open, neither moves right away, caught in their little moment. "Right." Lucifer murmurs, seeming slightly confused before he turns to walk into his penthouse, stopping in his tracks when he sees a man standing in his livingroom. A man who looks familiar and it's only confirmed when he turns around. "Mr. Dalton. Well, this saves me a great deal of trouble." He says with a little chuckle.

"Lucifer." Chloe gasps from slightly behind him, when she sees that the man has strapped himself up with explosives. Which wouldn't be much of a threat except that she's standing right there. Which means Lucifer is vulnerable and can be killed. Definitely not a good thing. She reaches out a little to touch his back lightly, just to remind him that she's there because she knows he can get quite focused on things sometimes.

Dalton smirks coldly as he looks at the two. "I wasn't sure my timing would be right. But looks like everything is working out perfectly." He says as he looks at the two, holding up his hand which has the trigger for the clearly big bomb that is strapped to his torso. "I told you I'm not going back."

Grinning a little, Lucifer tilts his head. "Setting that off won't save you, Dalton." He points out, sounding amused as he looks him over. "You were always clever though. Even if you do manage to kill me, there are others that will come after you. Including my two favorite pets. And Mazikeen." He points out, knowing the man won't care about Chloe, so he reaches behind him slowly with one hand, shifting enough that he can grab her belt loop of her pants and pull her slowly behind him without taking his eyes off of Dalton or making it seem like he's doing much of anything.

Deciding that this once, she should let Lucifer take the lead, Chloe sidesteps behind him, not having much of a choice with him pulling her, directing a glare at his back and swatting his hand lightly once she's out of view of the psycho in front of them. For once she's glad of Lucifer's broad shoulders and her small frame.

"Maybe." Dalton agrees with a little nod. "I guess the rumors in Hell were true. You care about some of these humans. The Devil finally has a weakness. And I am going to love exploiting it." He says with a dark but slightly unbalanced looking smile, eyes bright with glee. "You see. If you don't stop coming after me, I'm going to destroy everything you care about. Starting with her." He cackles a little as he points his hand with the detonator in it toward where he knows Chloe is hiding. "Or maybe I'll start with the therapist. Or that child the demons wanted to replace you with. So many options. And I do get bored so easily." He says with another slightly unhinged giggle. His time in Hell has obviously affected him somewhat, despite how he might have hidden it until now.

"Oh, you'll be doing no such thing, Mr. Dalton." Lucifer says as he takes a half step forward toward the man. "You're going back to Hell where I am going to let the demons be /very/ creative with you." He threatens in a pleasant tone, grinning a little. "No matter what you think about me. There is one simple truth." He says as he lifts one hand slowly. "The Hounds of Hell aren't hurt by a little fire." He says in a cold tone, putting his fingers to his lips and whistling sharply. The same eerie baying of dogs can be heard before the room trembles slightly as Marta and Bonnie appear on either side of Dalton, growling in low, eerie tones that should not belong to those two dogs, their forms flickering a little as they approach Dalton.

Being a Sociopath means he may not care about other people or the effect he has, but it doesn't keep Dalton from having a strong sense of self-preservation, and fear of going back to Hell. He looks between the hounds when they arrive, slightly panicking clearly as he looks at them. "I told you. I'm not going back!" He nearly shouts before holding up the detonator and pressing down on it, the penthouse erupting into sound and fire and light and debris.


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok, sorrynotsorry for the cliffhanger. I couldn't resist. ;) I hope the next two chapters will make up for it. Thank you so much for your reviews, they're all wonderful! You guys are so lovely, I'm really grateful for the kindness of the Lucifer fandom I hope you enjoy!**

**Reviews/comments welcome (and encouraged)!**

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Almost as soon as he sees the panic in Dalton's face, Lucifer knows what's going to happen. He starts to turn just at the man raises his hand. Spreading his wings as he turns, he grabs Chloe around the waist, getting them both as far as he can away from the explosion with one stroke of his wings before he crouches down with Chloe cradled against him, his wings curling around both of them to protect Chloe. Unfortunately it doesn't protect him so much, and as all the windows burst out and the building shakes with the force of the explosion, Lucifer yells in pain as his wings and back get battered by flames and debris.

Chloe screams as she's basically thrown backwards and all she can do is grab Lucifer's shirt because of how he's got her pinned against his body, ducking her head and closing her eyes. Tears stream from her eyes as she hears he pain that Lucifer is in, pain because she's next to him. What seems like an eternity is probably less than a minute and suddenly there's silence, except for the occasional sound of something falling over or dropping from the ceiling, or the tinkling of glass tipping over. "Lucifer." Chloe immediately says in a slightly panicked voice as she looks up at him, squirming until she can put her hands on his cheeks. "Are you ok?" She asks, looking around at his blood spattered wings, which just seems so wrong to her.

Panting softly after everything stops, Lucifer looks at the Detective and he nods a little. "I'll be fine.. Are you alright?" He asks in concern, moving one hand from around her to touch her cheek lightly as he waits for a few moments to make sure there are no aftershocks or anything before he slowly stands and helps Chloe to stand, keeping his wings around her as a shield until he has a chance to look around.

Of course, since he was already dead, the explosion hadn't hurt Dalton, and the Hellhounds appear to have gotten through it just fine as well, though they now both have their jaws locked down onto Dalton, growling through the grip and waiting for orders.

"Take him back to Hell, bring him to Aenaeous." Lucifer orders them in a sharp tone and with a sort of warping effect, they disappear with the now screaming Dalton. Turning back to the woman in front of him, Lucifer winces a little as he pulls his wings away from both of them, groaning as he folds first one away, and then the other, panting lightly afterward with the effort.

"I'm fine, Lucifer. My ears are ringing a little and I think I inhaled some dust, but thanks to you I'll be fine." Chloe reassures as she looks at him, sadly watching him put his wings away, "Will they heal?" She asks worriedly as she looks around at the decimated penthouse. Somehow a lot of the books seem to have survived but they were furthest from the blast. Parts of the ceiling are hanging down, his liquor collection is half gone, and every bit of glass in the place seems to have shattered.

"They'll be quite alright. They were after Pierce tried to kill us, they will be this time. They're quit resilient." Lucifer reassures as he looks around at everything. "Perhaps you had better call this in, Detective." He points out, turning away from her to cough a little for a moment before he steps carefully over to the bar, finding one of the thick bottles that somehow seems to have survived, and opening it to take a drinks straight from it since all his glasses are destroyed. He comes back slowly and offers the bottle to Chloe, fairly sure she'll need a swig.

Gratefully accepting the bottle, Chloe takes a drink and winces a little before she pulls out her phone to call dispatch to report the explosion. She tells them she doesn't think they'll need fire on the top floor but she doesn't know how it affected the rest of the building, but that it was empty save for maybe half a dozen employees who might have been stocking or something.

When his Detective gets off the phone, Lucifer shakes his head a little, "Well, that's our murder away." He offers as he steps over to stand in front of her. "I won't be able to return to Hell until my wings heal. Unless Amenadiel wants to give me a ride." Besides just not wanting to leave, he definitely doesn't like that idea. Being carried anywhere by his big brother is thoroughly embarrassing.

"Actually.. I think Amendadiel went up to the Silver City with Charlie today. I don't know if he'll be back today, or tomorrow, or..." Chloe trails off and shakes her head a little. "I guess you'll have to stay here... At the very least you should stay long enough to deal with the fallout from this, and get some repair crews started before you disappear again." She points out, taking a deep breath as she hears the sirens approaching. "Rescue crews will be here soon." She warns, looking around sadly at everything.

"Don't worry, Detective. It's just things. As important as some of the items were to me, your life is far more important." Lucifer reassures his Detective as he looks down at her before he rests his hands on either side of her neck, thumbs brushing her jaw a he leans down and kisses her gently, letting it linger as he thinks about how close he got to losing her.

Lifting one hand since she's still holding the bottle of alcohol in the other, Chloe presses up into the kiss a little as she puts her hand on the back of his neck. Finally, she pulls back to rest her forehead against his, eyes closed for a moment. "Thank you, Lucifer. For saving my life again. If you hadn't been here, I would have been paste.." She murmurs quietly, then adds, "When the officers get up here and you don't lie, let me do the talking, ok? Might need to stretch the truth just a touch since there is no body of a bomber." She notes, sighing a little.

"As you wish, Detective." Lucifer reassures as he looks at her, taking the alcohol from her gently before he pulls her into a tight hug for a moment, savoring the contact while he has it, knowing that he's on the clock now, and as soon as his wings are healed he's going to have to return to Hell.

"Actually, you should probably go get some clothes and whatever else you need for a few days, this place isn't exactly inhabitable right now." Chloe shifts a little as a piece of debris falls from the ceiling and even though it's far enough away from her she still leans away from it a little.

Nodding a little as he looks over at the debris as well, Lucifer brushes his shirt off. "Point taken, Detective. I suppose I should change while I'm at it." He says as he turns to carefully make his way toward the bedroom, the back of his shirt having various tears an showing some singed spots around the edges of where his wings were. At least nothing seems to be actively bleeding and his shirt was already ruined from the previous explosion. It's not been a good day for Lucifer and explosions.


	10. Chapter 10

**Reviews/comments welcome (and encouraged)!**

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It takes a few hours before they are released from the scene, and besides a few things that got knocked over, the only damage that was really done to the building was the penthouse. And luckily none of it is structural. It'll take a lot to rebuild it the way Lucifer had it, but there's no reason the club can't reopen, or that a contractor couldn't go in right away to start clearing things up.

After the structure is cleared, Lucifer gets onto his phone and starts calling people, calling in some favors, while other calls are made to companies he's obviously already familiar with, or ones that worked on the penthouse when he first bought Lux. Even though he thinks that he won't be there, that doesn't mean he doesn't want the penthouse to still be there. Just in case, or if the Detective or Maze need it for anything. Perhaps his nephew will take over the club when he's old enough. Though hopefully by then he will have earned himself a few days' vacation so he can teach Charlie a thing or two about drinking and sex. The two things he indisputably excels at.

Chloe deals with the police and fire, explaining that for some reason someone had left a bomb in Lux, probably some attack on Lucifer, but he's a pretty polarizing figure. But she thinks it might have something to do with their serial killer, that maybe they think they can match wits with Lucifer. Afterall, his involvement with LAPD cases isn't exactly advertised but it's not kept a secret either. If people hung out around enough crime scenes they would notice. And some sicko who is copying the Ferdinand Dalton murders is certainly some sort of sicko and probably someone who would hang around at crime scenes.

It doesn't take much effort to have the story make sense, Chloe has seen too many things over the years to not be able to fake a story. And she doesn't feel bad about it in this case because they did actually catch the killer, even if 'catch' is a relative term, so it's not like she's just letting some criminal go free by lying.

When her phone buzzes with a text message though, she's a little surprised and excuses herself from the officer she was speaking to in order to read it. It's from Amenadiel but she notices that it was sent to both her and Lucifer, and is very simple.

_A: Need to talk. An old friend wants to see Luci and meet you, Chloe._

Not wanting to get her hopes up about who Amenadiel might be bringing to see Lucifer, Chloe walks over to her partner and holds up her phone to show him the text just as he gets off his phone call. "Any idea what this is about?" She asks curiously as she looks at him. Just in case he knows something she doesn't know.

Glancing over at the Detective and then leaning over slightly to read her phone, Lucifer shakes his head a little. "Not a bloody clue. But I'll take any excuse to get away from here." He motions to the police, fire, and EMT's that are still hanging around, though some of them at least are starting to disperse.

"Alright, let me just see where he wants to meet us." Chloe says as she looks down at her phone even as she starts to walk over toward where her car was parked from earlier, glad that it was actually too close to the building to get any falling debris on it.

_C: Lucifer and I are just finishing up at Lux. Long story. Where do you want to meet?_

_A: Linda and I's place is fine. Linda took Charlie out, she won't be back for a little while._

"Come on." Chloe says as she sees Lucifer lingering for a moment. "They won't hurt anything more than it already has." She reassures him with a bit of amusement.

But damaging things is not exactly what Lucifer was thinking about. He looks up at the building again sadly, knowing that this very well may be one of the last, if not the last time he ever sees it. Having already put his suitcase in the Detective's vehicle, he turns and walks over to it, brooding a little about his impending departure. He does check his phone so that it stops blinking at him after he gets settled in the car. "I wonder what my dear brother has planned for us." He muses with a small shake of his head before he smiles as he looks over at his Detective. "Can't be much worse than almost being blown up twice in one day. I certainly hope he hasn't figured out something that could be worse than that." He notes with a smirk as he adjusts his jacket an then look forward again.

"Don't tempt Fate, Lucifer." Chloe says with a small shake of her head, trying to contain her own hope. It doesn't take her long to get to Linda's from Lux, the ride mostly quiet with little comments here or there either about her driving being too slow (a common criticism), how long it might take to repair Lux (estimated about a week, money is a great motivator), or the general complaints about traffic and LA drivers. When they finally pull up, nothing seems different on the outside, no extra cars around that seem unusual to Chloe, so her hope rises another notch or two.

After getting out of the car, Lucifer leads the way up to the house, knocking briefly as a warning more than asking for entrance because he steps inside almost immediately after. "Alright, brother, who is this old friend you want me to meet?" He calls as he glances down at the steps, then back at Chloe before he looks around the room, and almost stops, taking the last step or two very slowly and nearly causing Chloe to collide with him.

"Lucifer! What-" Chloe object as she stumbles briefly in her attempt not to knock Lucifer over, finally side-stepping around him and giving him a look of annoyance before she looks at what has the Devil looking so shocked. Next to Amendadiel stands an equally tall and broad (of course) man. Blonde and with ice blue eyes that send a shiver down her spine because of how cold and almost cruel they seem at first glance, he's certainly handsome and, her mind supplies, most certainly an angel. There are no wings or other indications, but his clothing is a little off, like someone who isn't used to wearing simple human clothing. He looks just as refined as Lucifer but not as kind as Amenadiel, and definitely younger than them both.

"Ezekiel.." Lucifer finally says sounding surprised and laughing a little as he steps forward to give the man a hug with several firm thumps on the back. "What are you doing here brother?" He asks after a moment, stepping back and holding his blonde brother by the shoulders at arm's length.

"It's good to see you as well, Lucifer." Ezekiel's voice is pleasant but somehow distant, even if he does seem to be genuinely pleased, and he returns the firm thumps to Lucifer's back. "Amenadiel told me you were in need. And I have longed for change in venue." He explains simply with a small smile.

And now her hope has just skyrocketed. Chloe looks between the two and looks over at Amenadiel for a moment. "Lucifer?" She asks as she looks between the three curiously.

"In need?" Lucifer asks confused, before he glances at Chloe, almost doing a slow double-take, as if he forgot she was there. "Oh, yes, of course. My apologies, Detective." He says as he takes a slow step back from his brother, releasing him and then turning to bring his Detective closer with a hand lightly on her back. "Detective, this is one of my youngest brothers, Ezekiel. Zeke, this is Detective Chloe Decker. She's a human who work for the LAPD, local law enforcement. She's a Miracle." The capital M on the word can practically be heard, how he says it while he tilts his head slightly toward the woman at his side.

"Mythology got one thing right. Apparently all Angels are attractive." Chloe says with a little snort, holding her hand out to Ezekiel. "It's nice to meet another of Lucifer's family." She says politely as she looks at him, though something about him makes her feel uneasy, a certain dead look in his eyes as he looks at her.

Taking the hand and shaking it firmly but carefully, Ezekiel bows his head to Chloe a little, his free hand held behind his back a little. "Pleasure to meet you, Detective Decker." He says carefully a he glances her over before he turns his attention back to Lucifer. "Yes, I know. Amenadiel has caught me up with everything. Quite an adventure you've had, brother." He smirks slightly as he looks at his older brother. "I should have shared it with you." He admits with a tone that approaches guilt in his voice.

"That is an old argument brother." Lucifer says as he looks at the blond angel for a few moments. "But what did you mean, Amenadiel told you I was in need? In need of what?" He asks as he looks questioningly between his two brothers before choosing to focus on Ezekiel.

Ezekiel looks at Amenadiel for a moment to see if he wants to explain, but when his brother doesn't speak up, he turns back to Lucifer. "Amenadiel brought up our nephew for a visit. Your adventures are fairly well known in the Silver City by now. Especially after Amenadiel was there speaking about how Angels have free will just as humans do and can self-realize. You always have known how to make waves, brother." He smirks slightly before he continues. "He was speaking of your decision to return to Hell, in order to protect those on Earth you had come to care about." He motions toward Chloe for a moment, then continues. "There are more of us who were sympathetic to your plight than you might guess. It has been a long time and we see the change in you, brother." He says as he looks at his brother for a moment. "I have been feeling restless as of late. Like you, I've been watching humanity spiral, unable to understand how humans can have any good in them anymore. My thoughts have been far from Divine." He pauses for a moment to let all of that sink in.

For some reason Chloe feels a shiver go down her spine as she watches Ezekiel. Something is slightly off-putting, in a way she's never felt from any of the Celestial's she's met before. She wonders if they're all like this and if that's why Lucifer doesn't like the rest of his family. For now she stays silent though, glancing at Amenadiel and taking reassurance from his calm face before she looks up at Lucifer's profile.

Confused and not dating to hope at what Ezekiel might be getting at, Lucifer tilts his head to the side a little. "And? Well, spit it out, Zeke." He demands impatient as ever as he gestures for his brother to continue. He doesn't need the entire play-by-play, he wants the point.

"I wish to take your place, brother." Zeke finally says rather bluntly. "It will be the best for everyone. You get to stay with the humans you so care about.. and I get to work out my current aggressive thoughts. And my guilt for allowing you to remain there alone all this time." He shrugs a little but grins briefly, giving Chloe the impression of a shark, all sharp teeth and danger. "What's a century in Hell, after so many in the Silver City." He says dismissively, before reaching out to put a hand on Lucifer's shoulder. "This is what I want, and what you deserve. Perhaps, after all your humans have gone to the Silver City, you may wish to return. But for now, give me your burden, brother."

Astounded by his brothers words, Lucifer is speechless for a few moments, before he gives a slight laugh of disbelief. "Zeke.." He shakes his head a little in shock, "I don't know what to say." He says before he turns and looks at Chloe. "Did you have anything to do with this?" He asks, not believing this all happened without his Detective having any involvement. Amenadiel never could have thought of this on his own.

Chloe smiles, joy swelling within her but she tries to contain herself at least while Ezekiel is around. "I may have given everyone a push, Lucifer, but I think everyone wanted to help. At least, those that know the truth." She explains, clasping her hands together in front of her. "You know, family is more than just blood, or.. species." She says as she looks at him. "And I think you've become a very integral part of our family here. I mean, you should have seen Ella when I had to tell her you weren't coming back for the foreseeable future. You would have thought I just killed her puppy." She giggles a little. "So maybe I gave them a kick in the pants, and told them just how urgent it was, but they were perfectly willing to help. I didn't know if we would succeed, that's why I didn't tell you my plan-" She stops in surprise as she suddenly finds herself in the arms of the Devil himself. She chuckles a little and puts her arms around him to return the hug, rather shocked that he voluntarily has hugged her, in front of his family no less.

"Thank you." Lucifer whispers so only his Detective can hear, pressing a kiss to the side of her head gently as he holds her, overwhelmed with emotions at the moment. Most of all, overwhelmed by the love he feels for this woman who put so much effort into keeping him on Earth. Gently, he releases her but keeps one arm around her waist as he turns to look at Amenadiel. "And you. Using baby Charlie to distract our siblings with cuteness while you spread your little plan? Quite clever. Careful, I think I might be rubbing off on you, brother." He say with a little bit of amusement before he looks over at Ezekiel. "Well, if this is really what you want, brother, then I bequeath my throne to you." He says as he motions toward him. "Word of advice. Be firm with the demons, they don't necessarily like change, and they're rather used to me. They'll take every opportunity to test you, so be firm with them." He nods a little to the other Angel, putting his free hand into his pocket while keeping the other around Chloe, too happy not to want to have her close to him.

This time when Ezekiel grins there's no mistaking the predatory nature of it, "Don't worry, brother. I can handle the demons. I've been hoping for a good fight." He nods a little and then steps back and turns to Amenadiel, grasping his arm in a warrior's grip. "Good luck with your son, I look forward to seeing him again." He says before he turns, heading for the door. "I hope you prove worthy of Lucifer's love." He says with a glance at Chloe right before he steps out.

Still feeling like he's in a state of shock, Lucifer shakes his head for a few moments. "I can't believe you actually pulled it off, Detective. Bravo." He says as he looks at her, then he sighs. "I guess I'll really have to deal with Lux now though." He frown as his pocket begins to vibrate though. "It's Maze.. something's happened at Lux. As if enough things haven't happened there today." There's a trace of irritation to his tone but he can't even pretend to be entirely unhappy at the moment. "Well then, Detective. Shall we see what trouble my favorite demon has gotten herself into this time?" he asks with a grin as he looks at Chloe.

Feeling more than a little emotional herself and doing her best to contain her happy tears, Chloe giggles a little at Lucifer's antics before she nods. "Yeah. Yeah, lets go see Maze." Her voice quivers a little as she speaks, and she clears her throat slightly before she hurries ahead of Lucifer. "See you later, Amenadiel." She says with a little wave at him.

"Sooner than you think." Amenadiel says cryptically which gets him a confused look from Lucifer but he can't stop to ask him or the Detective might leave without him with the way she's walking. Not that he couldn't just fly there on his own, but driving with her is a bit more pleasant.

When they arrive at Lux, nothing seems amiss, all of the emergency services having cleared out it seems. By the time the two of them get inside Lucifer is concerned. "Maze?" He asks, since all the lights are out and he can barely see the stairs to go down in the main area. "Maze, what the bloody hell is going on? What's wrong with the lights?" He calls into the darkness, then blinks a few times a the lights suddenly come on along with chores of "SURPRISE!" shouted at him from the crowd which very nearly has his wings unfurling in alarm. That would have been awkward since he spots Ella, Dan, and others from the station in the crowd.

Strung across one wall is an obviously quickly made poster that says 'Welcome Home', and several people pop streamers at him with a little bit of laughter. "Amenadiel told me you'd be sticking around. Figured everyone deserved to know. It was her idea." Maze explains as she points at Ella.

"Were you surprised? You were totally surprised." Ella steps over to Lucifer and she grins. "I am so glad that you're all done with your family stuff and that you can stay! We missed you!" She says before she steps forward to give him a tight hug around his waist for a moment, resting her head against his chest.

"Don't look at me, I had nothing to do with this one." Chloe says a little defensively when Lucifer looks over at her, and she holds up her hands a little. She startled hard when everyone yelled Surprise, and she's glad that everyone was focused on Lucifer. She accepts two champagne flutes from Maze and smiles as she holds one out to her partner. "Welcome home, Lucifer." She says with a little smile.

Awkwardly returning the hug, Lucifer looks a little lost for a moment before he nods. "Thank you, Ms. Lopez." He says down at her, taking the champagne from his Detective. Waiting until the little Latina woman lets go off him, the Devil then turns to Chloe and smiles softly. "And thank you, Chloe. Without you, I wouldn't never have found this. I would never have been able to stay here. I look forward to seeing where we go next." Before he can overthink it, he ducks his head down and kisses her, much to the hoots and hollars of everyone in the room. Except maybe Dan, but even he can't help but smile a little at the couple which, he admits, look pretty cute together.

_**Fin**_

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**I wanted to save all my comments to the end to avoid spoilers. Thank you so much to everyone who has read this and reviewed, you are all amazing. This is indeed the end of the story. I always wanted this to be a complete arc, which was getting Lucifer out of Hell. And I did want it to be shorter than some other stories, so 10 chapters seemed like a nice round number. I thought about ending it about five chapters ago but people seemed to want it to last a bit longer, and so it did. This was the best way I could think of. I hope you all enjoyed the journey.**

**At this time I have no plans of making a sequel, I want to get back to my other story which I had previously taken a break from, and I have a whole list of one-shots that I want to do. That being said, if there are any ideas you guys want to see written, let me know in the comments or PM me, if I like it or think I can do it, I'll stick it on my list. For now I want to focus on my other story.**

**Thank you all so much for following this story to the end, I hope you enjoyed it! And as always, let me know what you think. :)**


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